NASA Astronaut Nick Hague Boosts Human Health Research in Space | Space

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will soon dock with the International Space Station as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, a venture which will enhance scientific research and bolster the knowledge about how people can live and work in space.

During the planned five-month mission, Hague’s mission tasks will include participating in a variety of research projects for NASA’s Human Research Program. Each study is designed to help address the health challenges that astronauts may face during future long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

“Hague’s experiences and research may potentially lead to scientific breakthroughs that may not be possible on Earth,” said Steven Platts, chief scientist for human research at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

A major focus for Hague’s time aboard the station is to study the suite of space-related vision disorders called Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) which occur as body fluids shift toward the head in weightlessness. These shifts can cause changes to the eye: the optic nerve can swell, the retina may develop folds, and the back of the eye can even flatten. Earlier research suggests multiple factors contribute to the syndrome, so two vision-related studies on this mission will tackle different yet distinct approaches that may help address or…