Health and Space travel

How do astronauts tackle health issues in long-duration human spaceflight missions? How do extreme cold conditions affect human bodies? Professor John McMullen Lemery of University of Colorado School of Medicine, researches on these issues and shares with Krittika Sharma some findings

How do you keep astronauts healthy on missions that stretch for months in deep space? Astronaut health is a growing priority for spacefaring nations like the United States and India, especially as they look to support longer and more complex missions.
John McMullen Lemery, who researches the medical challenges of long-duration space travel, brought his expertise to India recently. He is a professor of emergency medicine and chief of the Section of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
During his visit, Dr. Lemery met with peers, students, engineers, physicians and public health professionals. In Chennai, he covered multiple topics, including shifting disease patterns. He also spoke on a panel at the Jaipur Literature Festival and visited institutions like O.P. Jindal Global University’s School of Public Health in Haryana. In his lecture at the university, Lemery explored the vital links between space exploration and global health.
Space cooperation was underscored in the United States-India Joint Leaders’ Statement in February, 2025, which called for more collaboration in space exploration, including long-duration human spaceflight missions, spaceflight safety and sharing of expertise and professional exchanges in emerging areas, including planetary protection.
Dr. Lemery’s research contributes to U.S. efforts to improve crew safety and enhance mission readiness. By addressing the medical challenges of long-haul missions, his work strengthens the U.S. space programme’s ability to support future missions and advances medical understanding that benefits both spaceflight and health systems on Earth.
Health solutions for astronauts
One key focus of his work is developing health solutions for astronauts. “I’m the physician for the Human Research Program. We look at how to take care of people and understand medical risks during long-duration space missions,” he explains. His expertise lies in “bringing the best technology we have, with consideration for use in space.”
Preparing for long-haul missions requires careful choices. “We have to be thoughtful because you can’t bring everything [on a spaceflight],” he says. Every decision is a balance between technology, resources and risk. For example, teams might have to choose between carrying antibiotics or an ultrasound machine, a water filtration device or a treadmill. “We make these tradeoffs not just within medicine, but also with the broader engineering priorities of a space vehicle,” he explains.
To support these decisions, a team of engineers works with a tool called a “probabilistic risk assessment engine.” Lemery’s team uses this tool to assess how medical decisions affect astronauts’ ability to perform critical tasks like spacewalks or operating on a computer. The tool, he explains, runs different scenarios, factoring in medical risks. It can model up to 120 conditions astronauts may face in space. This simulation helps the team decide which medical supplies are most critical to carry.
The future is AI
As space exploration continues to push the boundaries of human capability, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in astronaut health is becoming increasingly important. “I think AI can support clinical decisions made by inflight crew. It will augment their capacity to treat and diagnose, and have greater independence,” Lemery says.
He highlights how AI could be integrated with the vast amount of data from space missions, including the crew’s vital signs, medical history, environmental conditions and available resources. “When we think about how data integrates between the capsule and the wearables for the crew, their medical backgrounds, the environmental conditions of the vehicle, and a sense of the inventory, we end up with a robust medical database that’s space-centric,” he explains. He adds that AI can offer medical training through virtual and augmented reality, especially for emergencies.
Simulating extreme conditions
Another critical focus area is training astronauts to perform in extreme environments, especially cold-weather conditions. At the University of Colorado, Lemery directs the Cryosphere Austere Medicine Platform (CAMP), which supports astronaut health for long-duration missions the Moon or Mars-missions critical to maintaining America’s competitive edge in space exploration.
CAMP collaborates with the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Ice Core Facility in Denver, Colorado, which stores polar ice sheets for scientific research. The U.S. Department of Defense funds the cold-environment research, while the NSF supports the facility as a key science resource.
At CAMP, Lemery’s work is helping U.S. astronauts prepare for the cold extremes of space by replicating similar conditions on Earth. His team also trains healthcare providers and field medics by immersing them in simulated cold environments. “We give them a standardised kit and say, ‘You have 12 resuscitation scenarios,'” he says. These include treating hypothermia, applying splints and using tourniquets. The goal is to assess how quickly and accurately they can respond to intense cold.
Besides simulations, the team also tests manual dexterity and cognitive function. “Cognition is like counting backwards by seven from 100,” Lemery says. “We think you’re going to do that faster at room temperature than you will after being in the cold.” They also test manual dexterity-like screwing a bolt-since cold reduces fine motor skills. These simulations help the team better understand how cold impacts human performance. This research helps fine-tune astronaut training and prepares them for the challenges of space missions. (SPAN-TWF)

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