bioastronautics

An astronaut in outer space with a view of the [[Earth reflected on his visor |thumb]] Bioastronautics is a specialty area of biological and astronautical research which encompasses numerous aspects of biological, behavioral, and medical concern governing humans and other living organisms in outer space; and includes the design of space vehicle payloads, space habitats, and life-support systems. In short, it spans the study and support of life in space.

Bioastronautics includes many similarities with its sister discipline astronautical hygiene; they both study the hazards that humans may encounter during a space flight. However, astronautical hygiene differs in many respects e.g. in this discipline, once a hazard is identified, the exposure risks are then assessed and the most effective measures determined to prevent or control exposure and thereby protect the health of the astronaut. Astronautical hygiene is an applied scientific discipline that requires knowledge and experience of many fields including bioastronautics, space medicine, ergonomics etc. The skills of astronautical hygiene are already being applied for example, to characterise Moon dust and design the measures to mitigate exposure during lunar exploration, to develop accurate chemical monitoring techniques and use the results in the setting SMACs.