Knowing how area tech can aid the globe struggle COVID pandemic

Michael Strahan, former soccer star and host of “Very good Morning America,” will be taking off with a crew of 5 other passengers on Dec. 9, amidst a world-wide pandemic and increasing scenarios of the new omicron variant.

Strahan will never be the 1st civilian in place. In September, the Inspiration4 launch despatched four civilians (a physician’s assistant, an aerospace worker, a professor and a billionaire) into orbit. In Oct, William Shatner grew to become the oldest man or woman to go into area, at the age of 90.

Civilian spaceflight launches have had a shining spotlight in a time when COVID devastated locations all over the world. Some, like Prince William, have even criticized the obsession on spaceflight, stating billionaires and organizations should really target a lot more on addressing challenges nearer to Earth.

But could know-how developed for room support us struggle the pandemic?

An article unveiled in September in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Drugs investigated how space-primarily based systems could be made use of to assistance take care of and prevent pandemics.

How much a seat into space expenditures: William Shatner went to space. This is how a great deal it would cost you.

Telemedicine was ‘developed by house agencies’

When astronauts are in space, for case in point, their clinical information and facts is meticulously tracked, the paper suggests.

In fact, astronauts usually operate medical experiments in area to support scientists greater comprehend how the human overall body reacts to the houses of area, according to Phil McAlister, director of industrial spaceflight at NASA.

For the SpaceX Inspiration4 launch, McAlister claimed, civilians executed a series of experiments, these types of as drawing blood in area, and shared the facts with researchers on Earth.

“Telemedicine was actually created by room agencies as effectively in get to offer care, monitor the care of astronauts,” says Dr. Farhan Asrar, a professional medical physician and world faculty member at the Global Room University. Asrar was a contributor to the Character Drugs article.

Similarly, Asrar factors out, telemedicine can be applied to observe and assess COVID patients remotely without the threat of infecting healthcare staff.

Asrar claims that wearable technological know-how has presently been applied…