Sage-Tips

What happens if there is a medical emergency in space?

At present, operations would be impractical in micro gravity because blood and fluids would leak out of the patient’s body (which is three-quarters water), float around, infect other astronauts and contaminate the spacecraft.

What happens if an astronaut needs medical attention?

Space motion sickness happens in the first 48 hours, creating a loss of appetite, dizziness and vomiting. Over time, astronauts staying for six months on the station can experience the weakening and loss of bone and atrophying muscles.

Can you go into space with your appendix?

Already, current NASA policy recommends that astronauts have a number of non-essential body parts, such as appendix and wisdom teeth, removed before heading into space. Even with these precautions, however, illness and injury remain likely.

Can people who wear glasses become astronauts?

Having good eyesight Like airline pilots, astronauts have to have 20/20 vision, though applicants won’t be disqualified if they have 20/20 vision aided by eyeglasses. Aspiring astronauts who have surgery to correct their vision to 20/20 have to wait at least a year after surgical procedure before training starts.

Can you have asthma and be an astronaut?

The study, published in the journal Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, found that average people with “common medical problems” like high blood pressure and asthma will probably be just fine in outer space. You might not need to be a superhuman after all.

Has anyone ever had a medical emergency in space?

Potential medical emergencies during space flight arrhythmias, heart attack, stroke, embolism, massive hemorrhage, emergencies related to renal stone formation, infection and thrombotic complications. To date, arrhythmias, renal colic, venous thrombosis, and infections have been documented during space flights.

Why appendix is removed in Antarctica?

The answer is no. But doctors who are wintering at Australian Antarctic stations do have to have their appendix removed. This is because there is usually only one doctor on station during winter. In 1961, a Russian doctor at Novolazarevskaya station removed his own appendix.

Why do you have to have your appendix removed in Antarctica?

Appendix removal is a necessary precaution for the handful of people who stay longer-term because the nearest major hospital is more than 1,000km (625 miles) away, past the tip of King George Island and on the other side of the Southern Ocean’s icy swell.

What is the agency Contingency Action Plan for space flight operations?

Agency Contingency Action Plan for Space Flight Operations – iii. I. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF PLAN. It is NASA policy to report, investigate, and document NASA mishaps. The Agency Contingency Action Plan (CAP) for Space Flight Operations (SFO) delineates the pre-planned contingency response to a SFO mishap.

Does NASA grant waivers for the medical requirements for astronauts?

No. NASA does not grant waivers for the medical requirements. When qualifying astronauts for spaceflight, NASA must look at not only what is required for normal spaceflight operations, but also what each astronaut would require should serious, even life-threatening, problems develop.

What was the Apollo 11 contingency speech?

The Apollo 11 contingency speech came about weeks before the mission’s launch, when an Apollo 8 astronaut raised concerns at the White House about the possibility of disaster. That astronaut was either Frank Borman (according to Safire in a 1999 New York Times article) or Bill Anders (according to former NASA chief historian Roger Launius).

What is NASA’s plan to mitigate asteroids?

Johnson added that the plan will help NASA “step up our efforts to demonstrate possible asteroid deflection and other mitigation techniques, and to better formalize across the U.S. government the processes and protocols for dissemination of the best information available so that timely decisions can be made.”