APPLICATIONS OF TELEMEDICINE IN THE UNITED-STATES SPACE PROGRAM

Since the beginning of human space flight, NASA has been placing human s in extreme and remote environments. There are many challenges in mai ntaining humans in outer space, including the provision of life-suppor t systems, radiation shielding, and countermeasures for minimizing the effect of microgravity. Because astronauts are selected for their hea lth, among other factors, disease and illness are minimized. However, it is still of great importance to have appropriate medical care syste ms in place to address illness and injury should they occur. With the exception of the Apollo program, exploration of space has been limited to missions that are within several hundred miles of the surface of t he Earth. At the dawn of the 21st century and the new millennium, huma n exploration will be focused on operation of the International Space Station (ISS) and preparation for human missions to Mars. These missio ns will present inherent risks to human health, and, therefore, approp riate plans must be established to address these challenges and risks. Crews of long-duration missions must become more independent from gro und controllers. New systems, protocols, and procedures are currently being perfected. Application of emerging technologies in information s ystems and telecommunications will be critical to inflight medical car e. Application of these technologies through telemedicine will provide crew members access to information, noninvasive procedures for assess ing health status, and guidance through the integration of sensors, ho lography, decision-support systems, and virtual environments. These te chnologies will also serve as a basis to enhance training and medical education. The design of medical care for space flight should lead to a redesign of the practice of medicine on Earth.