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Days after the first “parastronaut” came a step closer to being approved for space station missions, a new study says space exploration efforts to boost diversity have valuable lessons for health professionals here on Earth.
European Space Agency Reserve astronaut (ESA) John McFall, a surgeon and former Paralympic sprinter, may be considered for the future International Space Station (ISS) missions after a recent feasibility analysis; the ESA-led effort found no major issues that could pose a mission risk if an ISS astronaut used a prosthesis. Although spaceflight is not guaranteed, McFall may be the first person wearing a prosthesis to board the ISS in its fourth century of operations.
“This is a potential opportunity to send a strong message to society and humanity, and to challenge the narrative around people’s expectations of what people with physical disabilities are capable of,” McFall told reporters in live-streamed press conference last week. (Recording provided to Space.com by ESA.)
The theme was picked up in a new study in the journal Communications Medicine, published on Thursday (July 25), the day before today’s National Disability Freedom Day (July 26). The study argues the example of McFall, a time for health care organizations to promote accessibility through initiatives such as upgrading equipment, changing training and improving selection criteria for employees.
Related: Equal access to space: New study explores how to get more ‘parastronauts’ aloft
The Communication Medicine study is not directly affiliated with McFall’s feasibility analysis, although one of its authors (Jennifer Ngo-Anh) was used to coordinate ESA’s science activities involving the ISS. Ngo-Anh recently moved to ESA’s directorate of commercialism, industry and competitiveness.
Lead author Fahran Asrar – a clinician and associate professor at the University of Toronto – says the team drew inspiration from ESA’s paraastronaut program and Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer survivor with a prosthesis who will fly on SpaceX’s privately funded Inspiration4 mission in 2021.
“We’re looking at how space technology, and the space sector, can make a positive difference to our challenges on Earth, so to speak – whether it’s public health, environmental health or other social aspects that could help our patients. here,” Asrar told Space.com.
McFall is a great example of a health sector struggling to be inclusive, Asrar said; While inclusion can always be improved in the space as well, he said other industries like healthcare need to catch up.
“There is a lot of research that shows that people with disabilities are less likely to be employed, compared to someone without a disability,” he said. “The statistics and other information refer to a lot of what we call giftedness, where individuals have the assumption, ‘Oh, this person wouldn’t be able to do it,’ or ‘B ‘they might not be able to handle medical training. , medical roles.'”
Asrar’s study team also includes engineer and communications professional Dana Bolles, who is missing both legs, according to an interview she did with her employer: NASA. Initially inspired by the astronaut program, Bolles pursued a degree in mechanical engineering not only out of interest, but also because she uses a wheelchair and medical equipment: “I realized that the skill and knowledge would that’s helpful, not only in my work life. but in my everyday life.”
Bolles is an ambassador for the non-profit AstroAccess program, which flies people with disabilities aboard parabolic aircraft to conduct scientific research. Its 2021 flight will examine assistive devices for spaceflight.
One of Bolles’ biggest career challenges, she said, is people “making assumptions about what I can’t do”, which can reduce opportunities for meetings or conversations. “That could be difficult to overcome, depending on who that person is,” she said.
Related: Zero-G flight shows disability ambassadors that space is accessible to all
Asrar’s comprehensive study correctly shows that spaceflight itself is fundamentally disabled. Despite countermeasures, everyone who flies aboard the ISS experiences muscle weakness, fluid changes and other body changes. If the mission continues for weeks or months, a long post-flight recovery takes place under medical supervision.
On the flip side, space microgravity can offer better accessibility for some with disabilities, Asrar said. Perhaps, he thought, the missions of McFall (if he got one), Arceneaux and others could be used to “transfer all that experience — the technological capabilities to help space — [to] welfare of disabled people in the world.”
McFall’s leg was amputated after a motorcycle accident at age 19, according to his biography. After that he not only won a medal as a sprinter in the Paralympics in 2008, but received many medical certifications – including core surgical training covering general surgery, urology and trauma, and orthopedics. When necessary, McFall wears a prosthesis — which goes for training activities and any spaceflight he’s chosen for.
“I will have to wear a prosthesis at launch, which means wearing it inside the space suit. And that is to meet the emergence of minimum emergency needs at launch,” said McFall, referring to evacuation procedures . “I also want to wear a prosthesis in orbit to undertake the exercise countermeasures, to protect my body from the effects of microgravity.”
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The feasibility analysis covered many aspects of McFall’s prosthesis, including ensuring it complies with ISS exercise equipment such as the treadmill and bike, and whether changes in the size of his stump would affect how it fits a prosthesis for his body. So far the analysis has only examined the ISS environment, but future efforts may consider space, McFall said.
“If we can show how methodical and thorough we’ve done this study, and provide the results in a very sensible, logical way, it’s really a great strength for people to be more open to studying like this in the future. ,” McFall said. “We’re really setting a precedent.”
McFall is not a full-time ESA astronaut, and has not undergone all of the agency’s basic training. Rather, he is part of the agency’s backlog for possible short-term opportunities in spaceflight, and has undergone familiarization classes. One backup astronaut from McFall’s group recently went to space: Sweden’s Marcus Wandt flew a private, weeks-long Axiom Space Ax-3 mission to the ISS earlier this year.
