Humans In Space

Humans In Space Insights

Who is Responsible for Astronaut's Health?

2026-06-17
<p> </p><figure class='media'><oembed url='https://www.youtube.com/embed/BZ8JiNvTYY4'></oembed></figure><p><span class='text-huge'><strong>Shir Stibbe on Astronaut Health, Preventive Medicine, and the Power of Open Innovation in Space</strong></span></p><p>As human spaceflight expands beyond government agencies to include private citizens and commercial missions, the question of how to manage astronaut health has taken on new complexity. For <strong>Dr. Shir Stibbe, </strong>a pediatrician who served as a backup astronaut for the Ax-1 mission and led the scientific committee for Israel's Rakia mission, this challenge sits at the intersection of medicine, teamwork, and a fundamental shift in how we think about health in extreme environments.</p><p> </p><p><span class='text-big'><strong>When Health Becomes a Team Asset</strong></span></p><p>During training for Ax-1, Dr. Stibbe worked alongside NASA, Axiom, SpaceX, and a range of research partners. The experience reshaped her understanding of what astronaut health really means.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“Having all that training together showed us the importance of teamwork and health. Whether the astronaut is a private citizen or a professional, they're part of the whole mission. Your health — it becomes not something so personal anymore.”</strong></p></blockquote><p> </p><p>The transition she describes is significant. On Earth, health is an individual concern. In space, it becomes a shared responsibility — one that flight surgeons, mission teams, and crew members must navigate together. Building the infrastructure and culture that enables this shift, she notes, is 'very sensitive and high quality work.'</p><p>A key focus of that work is preventive medicine — addressing the physiological effects of microgravity and radiation before they escalate into emergencies.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“Many of the projects we've seen in the Humans in Space Challenge tackle preventive medicine — which will be helpful both for people on Earth and for astronauts in space.”</strong></p></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p><span class='text-big'><strong>Expanding Who Gets to Participate</strong></span></p><p>Dr. Stibbe is a strong advocate for opening space research to a broader community of innovators — and she sees the Humans in Space Challenge as a model for doing so.</p><p>During the Rakia mission, her team issued an open call for research contributions from government offices, private companies, universities, and startups. The response brought in voices that had never engaged with the space sector before.</p><blockquote><p><i><strong>“Many intelligent and talented people who hadn't been in the space world created really quality research and findings here on Earth. It allowed them to imagine what they could do more.'</strong></i></p></blockquote><p> </p><p>One outcome she points to is Brain.Space, a neurotechnology company focused on EEG that had no prior space experience before joining the Rakia mission:</p><blockquote><p><i><strong>“What they have become — from a very small company to what they are today — is a lot because of the opportunities we gave.'</strong></i></p></blockquote><p>The Humans in Space Challenge carries that same ethos forward, mapping research challenges across domains so that scientists and entrepreneurs can engage with problems they might not have previously considered.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span class='text-big'><strong>Collaboration as a Foundation for the Future</strong></span></p><p>For Dr. Stibbe, the most powerful driver of progress in space isn't any single institution or technology — it's cross-sector collaboration.</p><p>Startups and researchers bring creative, unconventional thinking. Governments provide scale, resources, and institutional trust. Together, they can move faster and further than either could independently. But the value of collaboration extends beyond operational efficiency.</p><blockquote><p><strong>“Space can be a platform for peace and collaboration — between companies, between governments, between different countries. That's maybe one of the most important things that space has to offer”</strong></p></blockquote><p> </p><p>It's a perspective that aligns closely with Boryung's vision through the Humans In Space Challenge: advancing the science of human health in space while building the global partnerships that will define the next era of exploration.</p>
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