On Aug 27, all eyes will be on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a historic flight. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set to propel the Dragon crew capsule and four private astronauts into space. The launch is the first of three planned Polaris missions, which aim to advance technologies and healthcare that could one day propel us deeper into space.
Pushing Boundaries Heading the mission is Jared Isaacman, who is no stranger to space travel. The mission showed that the average person is capable of spaceflight with a short bout of training and brought a wealth of insights into how a brief stint in space changes the body.
Medicine in Space Polaris Dawn partnered with 31 institutions to probe the health effects of spaceflight. Professional astronauts have been conditioned for spaceflight for years-the civilian crew offers a rare chance to examine the impact of microgravity on the health of an average space traveler.
Many of the studies are collaborations between NASA’s Human Research Program and the Translational Research Institute for Space Health.
These samples will then be processed and added to the Space Omics and Medical Atlas, which includes the crew’s genetic makeup and gene expression changes-which genes are turned on or off-after a sprint into the radiation belts.
Previous studies have mostly researched astronauts living for months on the International Space Station, which is closer to our home planet.
Another team will test a hand-held ultrasound tool called Butterfly IQ. It’s not fully automated, like the AI medical pods in the science fiction movie Prometheus, but the idea is similar: Being able to diagnose and treat unexpected medical troubles on the fly is crucial for space travel.
The crew will test the device in space for myriad potential uses, like, for example, collecting medical-grade images of bladder function or blood and bodily fluid status.
Unlike the International Space Station, Dragon does not have an airlock. Our bodily fluids, gut function, and metabolism all go topsy-turvy in space, which impacts how common medications work. The Polaris Dawn crew will test several common medications and chart how they behave in space.