there are 100 medical conditions that can affect the health of an astronaut
He development of predictive and personalized medicine is the key to solving the challenges posed by the future manned missions to the planet Mars, because millions of miles away from the earth, astronauts must be autonomous when they need medical and psychological assistance.
According to the doctor Emmanuel Urquieta, Assistant Scientific Director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), exist until 100 medical conditions that can affect an astronaut’s health during a space mission, so training and the development of new materials and tools is essential to meet the needs of the crew.
“Because of the distance, the communication delay can be up to 20 or 40 minutes (…) We have to think about how we are going to predict a disease, ”the scientist confirmed.
Likewise, he pointed out that communication between crews and stations on Earth is one of the main challenges of the journey to the Red Planet, in addition to the complications arising from weightlessness and cosmic rays.
NASA has collected medical information obtained from space missions to the development of an artificial intelligence which can Detect abnormalities in astronauts’ vital functions and predict disease occurrence, creating a larger margin for handling and resolution.
Regarding the problem of the harmful amounts of radiation in space, he explained efforts are focused on genetic modification and editing to make space travelers more resistant to these elements.