Spaceflight
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NASA
Taking Flight to Prepare for Space
NASA astronaut Adam Fuhrmann (right, in yellow) prepares for a training flight aboard NASA’s WB-57 aircraft in this July 16, 2026, photo. These high-altitude flights train the crew to work in a tight environment and operate aircraft systems while in a pressure suit, preparing them for future missions to the International Space Station, Moon, or beyond. Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
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NASA
Microbiology
Microorganisms and Spaceflight Spaceflight poses a risk of adverse health effects due to the interactions between microorganisms, their hosts, and their environment. The JSC Microbiology team addresses the benefits and risks related to microorganisms, including infectious disease, allergens, environmental and food contamination, and the impacts of changes in environmental and human microbial ecology aboard spacecraft. The team includes certified medical…
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NASA
Microbiology
Microorganisms and Spaceflight Spaceflight poses a risk of adverse health effects due to the interactions between microorganisms, their hosts, and their environment. The JSC Microbiology team addresses the benefits and risks related to microorganisms, including infectious disease, allergens, environmental and food contamination, and the impacts of changes in environmental and human microbial ecology aboard spacecraft. The team includes certified medical…
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NASA
Immunology and Virology
Does Spaceflight Alter the Human Immune System? Getting sick on Earth is nothing to sneeze at, but for astronauts on deep space exploration missions, the risk for contracting diseases may be elevated due to altered immunity. The Human Health and Performance Directorate’s Immunology/Virology Laboratory is ideally suited to study the effects of spaceflight on the immune system. When immune cells…
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NASA
What Are the Dangers of Going to Space? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 55
What are the dangers of going to space? For human spaceflight, the first thing I think about is the astronauts actually strapping themselves to a rocket. And if that isn’t dangerous enough, once they launch and they’re out into space in deep exploration, we have to worry about radiation. Radiation is coming at them from all directions. From the Sun,…
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NASA
Risk of Adverse Health Outcomes and Performance Decrements resulting from Non-Ionizing Radiation during Spaceflight
Sunlight exposure primarily affects the eye and skin and is mitigated by current standards and countermeasures. An increase in the prevalence of high-power ground-based lasers capable of reaching the ISS, and possibly even the Moon, could cause acute laser exposure damaging hemorrhagic retinal lesions resulting in temporary or permanent damage to vision. Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, STS-115 mission specialist, looks…
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NASA
Aging and Fragility Biomarkers are Altered by Spaceflight
Spaceflight accelerates the symptoms of aging in astronaut bodies by inducing genomic instability, mitochondrial dysfunction, and increased inflammation. This is the first study to comprehensively examine biomarkers and pathways associated with spaceflight and terrestrial aging, frailty, and sarcopenia. Main Findings: Spaceflight induced notable changes in gene expression patterns related to frailty and muscle loss indicative of a frailty-like condition. Exposure…
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NASA
Human Adaptation to Spaceflight: The Role of Food and Nutrition
The latest book marks our third effort to review available literature regarding the role of nutrition in astronaut health. In 2009, we reviewed the existing knowledge and history of human nutrition for spaceflight, with a key goal of identifying additional data that would be required before NASA could confidently reduce the risk of an inadequate food system or inadequate nutrition…
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NASA
Spaceflight affects tumor-bearing fruit fly hosts and their parasites
How does spaceflight affect tumor-bearing fruit fly hosts and their parasites? Pigmentation: A side-by-side comparison of wasps shows a clear difference in the melanization of wing veins for wild-type and each mutant.Blade Shape: The kona mutant has an angular wing shape in contrast to wild-type’s rounded wing blade (vertical arrows in D–F). S. Govind. Background: Like humans, fruit flies (a model organism for spaceflight…
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Press Releases
Spaceflight Inc. and Rocket Factory Partner to Fly Sherpa OTVs on Future RFA Launches from Europe
At the International Astronautical Congress 2022 (IAC), Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, today announced it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for upcoming launches with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA). The agreement formalizes the plan for Spaceflight to fly its Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and other rideshare payloads on upcoming RFA missions from a variety of European launch sites, including from…
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