
A new study in the field of space medicine marks a number of significant contributions from physicians working to advance space exploration, highlighting the unique strengths they bring to the field. Dr Farhan M Asrar, a Canadian physician and internationally known space medicine researcher, has worked with experts and astronauts from space agencies around the world. He looks at human health in space, including deep space missions, as well as how space technology can be used to innovate health, public health and the environment on Earth. One of his most recent pieces of research, ‘From bedside to orbit: the enduring impact of physician-astronauts over six decades of space exploration’, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, looks at the role of medical doctor in advancing space exploration. According to Dr Asrar, the work addresses two historical milestones: it has been 61 years since the first physician-astronaut — a medical doctor who became an astronaut — went to space for Russia, as we...