Abstract

The NASA Human Research Program: Solving Tomorrow’s Human Exploration Challenges Today

Jennifer Fogarty, Chief Scientist, NASA Human Research Program

Humans exploring the far reaches of space will experience unprecedented biological, physiological, and psychological challenges brought on by extreme environmental exposures. The NASA Huma Research Program pursues research that characterizes the effects of these hazardous exposures and is responsible for developing and validating mitigation strategies that reduce the risk to the humans and the mission. I will describe the hazards of spaceflight including the exposure to altered gravity fields, a closed environment, isolation and confinement, and galactic cosmic radiation. I will also discuss that while humans are extremely adaptable, these exposures could lead to significant health and performance decrements during the mission and late in life, long after the mission is complete. I will describe how we continue to do surveillance of the experience during human spaceflight to enable the identification of new and emerging risks. The NASA Human Research Program refers to these decrements as human system risks and uses this construct to describe a portfolio of work. The final piece of the presentation will provide an overview of how the NASA Human Research Program interacts with researchers from academia and industry.