The concept of human space exploration of space has experienced something of a recent revival in the public consciousness. The private SpaceX and Virgin Galactic companies (and their eccentric front men) often make front-page news for their achievements and goals, which ultimately involve traveling to and colonizing distant planets. Though some decry these ambitions as extravagant fantasies, news pertaining to novel developments in extraterrestrial exploration often goes viral over digital media, reflecting genuine public interest in the topic.

Though we are technologically closer to realizing long-distance space travel than we were 50 years ago, significant engineering, financial and logistical obstacles remain. The health and well-being of participants on future exploratory or colonization missions encompasses all of the aforementioned. The medical needs of future explorers and colonists must be adequately met in the face of arguably the most adverse and unpredictable conditions humans will ever venture into.

…continue reading ‘Surgery in Space: Medicine’s Final Frontier’

Image: By Derek Springer from Los Angeles, CA, USA – Star Trek 017, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4994823

Be the first to like.

Like

Unlike