Review of NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks: 2016 Letter Report

Review of NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks: 2016 Letter Report
 
NASA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review more than 30 publicly available evidence reports on human health risks for long-duration and exploration space flight. A new letter report — the fourth in the series of five — examines eight NASA evidence reports on topics including astronauts’ risk of developing cardiovascular disease from radiation exposure; cancer from radiation exposure; radiation syndromes from intense exposure to high doses of radiation over short time periods; central nervous system effects from radiation exposure; adverse cognitive or behavioral conditions and psychiatric disorders; and performance decrements and adverse health outcomes from sleep loss, circadian desynchronization, and work overload. 
 
This report examines the quality of evidence, analysis, and overall construction of each NASA evidence report, identifies gaps in content, and provides suggestions for additional sources of expert input.  The NASA evidence reports are available to download here.
 
DETAILS:

Advance copies of Review of NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks: 2016 Letter Report will be available to reporters only beginning at noon EST on Thursday, Jan. 5.  The report is embargoed and not for public release before 11 a.m. EST Friday, Jan. 6.  To obtain an embargoed copy, reporters should contact the National Academies Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu.