Planning crewed missions to the Moon and Mars involves preparing for the medical realities of long-duration space travel. Factors like cosmic radiation, microgravity, and distance from Earth create unique health considerations for astronauts. To anticipate these needs ahead of time, NASA developed the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The IMM is a decision-support tool that uses
Lee esta historia en español aquí. Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA scientists say. Published on Aug. 19, 2026, in Science Advances, these findings highlight a need to better understand microbial persistence