For more than 25 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, conducting research that is transforming life on Earth and shaping the future of exploration. From growing food and sequencing DNA to studying disease and simulating Mars missions, every experiment aboard the orbiting laboratory expands our understanding of how humans […]
Category: Human Health and Performance
Susan Schuh: Supporting the Humans in Human Spaceflight
Susan Schuh has dedicated her career to helping humans adapt to life beyond Earth. As the Flight Crew Integration Operational Habitability (OpsHab) team lead in NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Schuh leads efforts to understand what it is really like to live and work in space. She turns […]
Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry
Ensuring Astronaut Safety Achieving safe exploration of space in vehicles that rely upon closed environmental systems to recycle air and water to sustain life and are operated in extremely remote locations is a major challenge. The Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry (TEC) group at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is made up of 2 interrelated groups: Toxicology […]
Statistics and Data Science
Enabling Successful Research A major aim of biomedical research at NASA is to acquire data to evaluate, understand, and assess the biomedical hazards of spaceflight and to develop effective countermeasures. Data Science (S&DS) personnel provide statistical support to groups within the NASA JSC Human Health and Performance Directorate and other NASA communities. They have expertise […]
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. […]
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 […]
Exposure Guidelines (SMACs and SWEGs)
The JSC toxicologists establish guidelines for safe and acceptable levels of individual chemical contaminants in spacecraft air (SMACs) and drinking water (SWEGs) in collaboration with the National Research Council’s Committee on Toxicology (NRC COT) and through peer-reviewed publication. The framework for establishing these levels is documented for SMACs and SWEGs, and recent refinements to the Methods reflect current risk assessment […]
LSAH Newsletter
The Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) program collects, analyzes, and interprets medical, physiological, hazard exposure, and environmental data for the purpose of maintaining astronaut health and safety as well as preventing occupationally induced injuries or disease related to space flight or space flight training. It allows NASA to effectively understand and mitigate the long-term […]
NASA Awards Second Human Health, Performance Contract
NASA has selected KBR Wyle Services, LLC of Fulton, Maryland, to provide services to the Human Health and Performance Directorate at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which focuses on astronaut health, occupational health, and research that could help mitigate health risks for future human spaceflight missions. The Human Health and Performance Contract 2 […]
Risk of Venous Thromboembolism During Spaceflight
In October 2024, NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer (OCHMO) initiated a working group to review the status and progress of research and clinical activities intended to mitigate the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) during spaceflight. The working group took place over two days at NASA’s Johnson Space Center; a second meeting […]