Operational Medicine

Spaceflight, whether it be a suborbital joyride, a flight to an orbiting outpost, or an interplanetary flight beyond Earth orbit, is by several orders of magnitude far, far more hazardous than flying commercial. Why? Well, aside from the obvious risks posed by acceleration, radiation exposure and explosive decompression, there are the risks associated with pre-existing medical conditions, which may not only be aggravated by being subjected to stressors such as acceleration and microgravity but could potentially be fatal. So, it is helpful to have a rudimentary understanding of how the operational environment may affect commercial astronauts.