Safety Concerns

NASA engineers have incorporated many of the lessons learned from the Columbia shuttle disaster into the design of its next-generation Orion space capsule, which should be safer, overall, than the shuttle.

Are overeager space tourists endangering their health?

Lulled into a false sense of security by jet travel, we have come to assume space tourism will be much the same.

To boldly go where no man has gone before could damage more than your just your wallet. Scientists are researching how it could impact on our health too.

Human spaceflight is space travel with a crew aboard the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is crewed, it can be operated directly, as opposed to being remotely operated or autonomous.

Space-industry watchers expressed concern that the emerging space tourism sector is not being candid enough about the safety risks for travellers.

Some serious health problems arise when traveling in deep space.

Though humanity may dream of traveling to Mars and beyond, it might not happen as we hope. A panel of buzzkills experts from the Institute of Medicine recently determined that such longterm space travel would exceed current safety regulations. This raises specific ethical concerns that would need to be addressed prior to the development of such a mission, even though any such missions would be decades away.

The first company with a plan-and a rocket-to send humans to orbit answers the existential question.

The risks of space tourism and other private spaceflight missions must be clearly understood and addressed if the burgeoning commercial space industry is to succeed, House lawmakers say.

The dangers of human spaceflight will be on many people's minds for the next week as NASA and the nation commemorate three space tragedies. But just how risky is sending humans to space?