NASA is one step closer to having a health care program designed to better track and understand the long-term effects of space travel. The feasibility study for the program was conducted at UNMC.
The program would lead to increased understanding of how humans can travel longer periods in space and live longer lives on earth. A Senate committee on Thursday adopted an amendment that directs NASA to develop the program. Sen. Ben Nelson offered the amendment.
“We are flattered to have been given the opportunity to prepare the lifetime health insurance proposal for the astronauts and their families. Due to Sen. Nelson’s leadership, this important work will continue,” said Cory Shaw, chief administrative officer for University Medical Associates, the physician group practice for UNMC. “This endeavor signifies that UNMC’s expertise is being recognized on a national level. This type of cooperation only strengthens UNMC’s reputation as a world-class medical center.”
The Astronaut Health Care for Life program is a comprehensive health care system for astronauts and their families that allows the capture and study of all relevant medical data necessary to ameliorate the risks of space flight. This health care program shall enhance understanding of how humans can travel safely and live longer in space and, as an additional benefit, how humans can live longer on Earth. Many of the medical findings developed through this program will likely be applicable to many of today’s standard medical treatments.
A study to design the project was first conducted at UNMC, in cooperation with NASA, and looked at providing lifetime health care to astronauts and their dependents. In exchange, the agency would get stronger data to track long-term health issues, such as the effects of weightlessness, isolation and radiation.
“This proposal provides a common-sense approach to tracking the long-term effects from space travel. If we are to meet the challenge of long-term space travel, we need to start now in determining how humans can make the journey safely. I am pleased that my colleagues saw the importance of this proposal and Nebraska’s role in developing it,” said Nelson, a member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.