Summary 



disciplines of Biomedical Research and Operational Medicine focus on the health 

 and safety of human space crews. 



Biomedical Research concentrates on physiological deconditioning, which becomes 

 a greater concern the longer the space mission. Ground and space research have 

 identified unresolved scientific issues relevant to the following areas: cardiovascular 

 physiology specifically a more complete characterization of cardiovascular 

 deconditioning; neurophysiology and behavioral physiology, particularly space 

 adaptation syndrome (space motion sickness); bone, endocrine, and muscle 

 physiology. 



Soviet Space Accomplishments 



The recent return of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko to Earth after 

 326 days in space has excited great interest, as evidenced by reports in 

 the world press. His return suggests that humans can exist for 

 considerable periods in space and successfully readapt to conditions on 

 Earth. 



Caution must be exercised, however, in drawing optimistic conclusions 

 from a single case, particularly when the subject was unusually 

 experienced in space missions and had been selected according to 

 particular physiological and psychological attributes. 



Furthermore, the assertion that regular exercise played a role in 

 preserving his well-being has yet to be proved. It should be noted, in 

 addition, that his exercise program consumed 4 hours each day. 



Thus, while Romanenko's experience is encouraging, it only makes more 

 imperative that we pursue as soon as possible the necessary studies in 

 space to define better the physiological changes over time so that 

 countermeasures can be rationally devised. 



Radiation poses significant challenges for long-duration missions, such as the I to 

 3 years required for a round trip to Mars. While considerable information is 

 available about radiation beyond the protection of Earth's magnetic field, 

 substantive questions remain concerning the biological effects of exposure to 



jacti< cosmic radiation and solar particle events and the shielding required to 

 protect astronauts, as well as exposure-measuring instrumentation. Although 

 critical unresolved issues remain, NASA does not have a focused program ot 

 1 "ii effects studies. 



The : "ss ot extended missions will depend substantially on the psychological 

 interactions among the space crew and between the space and ground crews. 

 Infoi on is not available on morale and prodiuhvih .imom; small, isolated 



