Space Medicine: Humans Far from Home

Exploring space is not only a technical challenge—it is a biological one. Space Medicine: Humans Far from Home examines how the human body adapts, struggles, and survives when Earth is no longer nearby.
This book takes a human-survival lens. It explores how microgravity, radiation, isolation, and confinement affect muscles, bones, organs, cognition, and mental health. Rather than treating astronauts as test subjects, the book focuses on care: monitoring, prevention, and intervention when medical support is limited and delayed.
Readers learn how space medicine blends physiology, psychology, engineering, and logistics. From countermeasures that preserve health to autonomous medical systems designed for deep-space missions, the emphasis is on keeping humans functional, resilient, and safe far from Earth.
This book explores:
• How spaceflight alters the human body over time
• Why radiation is a long-term medical risk
• How isolation affects cognition and behavior
• How medicine works when evacuation is impossible
• Why human health defines mission limits
This book is for clinicians, mission planners, researchers, and space enthusiasts who recognize that exploration depends on people, not just rockets. If humans are to go farther, this book explains how medicine travels with them.