Space Life Sciences

The term space life sciences refers to the set of sciences that study the biology of living things under conditions of spaceflight. The synonymous term, space biology, coined in 1920 by K. Tsiolkovsky, is more common in Russia (USSR) and will be used in this article. The origin and development of space life sciences as a discipline are the result of certain advancements in modern science and technology and are associated with the development of jet propelled flight vehicles that can overcome the force of gravity to ascend beyond the bounds of Earth's atmosphere. Space Biology arose at the intersection of many scientific disciplines. It is indissolubly bound up with cosmonautics and space medicine. Space medicine is the area of general medicine that studies what happens to human physiological processes under the unique conditions of space flight to develop means and methods for maintaining the health and performance capacity of crews of spacecraft and space station pre-, in- and postflight. As one of the branches of occupational medicine, space medicine attempts to provide the answers to a number of questions confronting humanity as a result of scientific and technological progress. These answers are derived from a very large medical knowledge base relating to various areas of theoretical and clinical medicine such as space physiology and psychophysiology, space hygiene, space radiobiology, and medical expertise. Major phases in the evolution of space life sciences are discussed. Understanding how living things react to extreme environments and tolerance to the extremes is key to developing an artificial closed system for space exploration. The main results of scientific studies conducted are provided. Keywords: space life science; near Earth space; goals; objectives; piloted flight; near Earth orbit; interplanetary space flights; piloted spacecraft; Bion program