10. Human Flight and Space Medicine

The module, in its first part, will provide the student with a panorama on the past, present and future history of the Human Spaceflight. An insight on the current major spaceflight program, the International Space Station, will be provided; key enabling factors enabling human spaceflight will be addressed.

In the second part an overview on health risk and on the adaptation of the human body to the space environment will be presented, with a special focus on the measure that could be used to counteract such effects.

The module will deliver to the students

• Knowledge of the history and main achievements of human spaceflight
• Understanding of the ongoing and planned major programs of human exploration
• Ability to identify key challenges for human spaceflight
• An overview on the physiology of the human body
• An overview on the adaptation of the body in space and the concurrent health risk.
• An overview on the methods that can/could be used to counteract the effects of space on the human body.