Molecular and physiological changes in the SpaceX Inspiration4 civilian crew

Christopher W. Jones, Eliah G. Overbey, Jerome Lacombe, Adrian J. Ecker, Cem Meydan, Krista Ryon, Braden Tierney, Namita Damle, Matthew MacKay, Evan E. Afshin, Jonathan Foox, Jiwoon Park, Theodore M. Nelson, Mir Suhail Mohamad, Syed Gufran Ahmad Byhaqui, Burhan Aslam, Ummer Akbar Tali, Liaqun Nisa, Priya V. Menon, Chintan O. Patel, Sharib A. Khan, Doug J. Ebert, Aaron Everson, Michael C. Schubert, Nabila N. Ali, Mallika S. Sarma, JangKeun Kim, Nadia Houerbi, Kirill Grigorev, J. Sebastian Garcia Medina, Alexander J. Summers, Jian Gu, John A. Altin, Ali Fattahi, Mohammad I. Hirzallah, Jimmy H. Wu, Alexander C. Stahn, Afshin Beheshti, Remi Klotz, Veronica Ortiz, Min Yu, Laura Patras, Irina Matei, David Lyden, Ari Melnick, Neil Banerjee, Sean Mullane, Ashley S. Kleinman, Michael Loesche, Anil S. Menon, Dorit B. Donoviel, Emmanuel Urquieta, Jaime Mateus, Ashot E. Sargsyan, Mark Shelhamer, Frederic Zenhausern, Eric M. Bershad, Mathias Basner () and Christopher E. Mason ()
Additional contact information
Christopher W. Jones: University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Eliah G. Overbey: Weill Cornell Medicine
Jerome Lacombe: University of Arizona
Adrian J. Ecker: University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Cem Meydan: Weill Cornell Medicine
Krista Ryon: Weill Cornell Medicine
Braden Tierney: Weill Cornell Medicine
Namita Damle: Weill Cornell Medicine
Matthew MacKay: Weill Cornell Medicine
Evan E. Afshin: Weill Cornell Medicine
Jonathan Foox: Weill Cornell Medicine
Jiwoon Park: Weill Cornell Medicine
Theodore M. Nelson: Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Mir Suhail Mohamad: TrialX Inc.
Syed Gufran Ahmad Byhaqui: TrialX Inc.
Burhan Aslam: TrialX Inc.
Ummer Akbar Tali: TrialX Inc.
Liaqun Nisa: TrialX Inc.
Priya V. Menon: TrialX Inc.
Chintan O. Patel: TrialX Inc.
Sharib A. Khan: TrialX Inc.
Doug J. Ebert: Science & Space
Aaron Everson: Science & Space
Michael C. Schubert: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Nabila N. Ali: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Mallika S. Sarma: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
JangKeun Kim: Weill Cornell Medicine
Nadia Houerbi: Weill Cornell Medicine
Kirill Grigorev: Weill Cornell Medicine
J. Sebastian Garcia Medina: Weill Cornell Medicine
Alexander J. Summers: University of Arizona
Jian Gu: University of Arizona
John A. Altin: The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
Ali Fattahi: University of Arizona
Mohammad I. Hirzallah: Baylor College of Medicine
Jimmy H. Wu: Baylor College of Medicine
Alexander C. Stahn: University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Afshin Beheshti: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Remi Klotz: University of Southern California
Veronica Ortiz: University of Southern California
Min Yu: University of Southern California
Laura Patras: Weill Cornell Medicine
Irina Matei: Weill Cornell Medicine
David Lyden: Weill Cornell Medicine
Ari Melnick: Weill Cornell Medicine
Neil Banerjee: SpaceX
Sean Mullane: SpaceX
Ashley S. Kleinman: Weill Cornell Medicine
Michael Loesche: SpaceX
Anil S. Menon: Department of Emergency Medicine
Dorit B. Donoviel: Baylor College of Medicine
Emmanuel Urquieta: Baylor College of Medicine
Jaime Mateus: SpaceX
Ashot E. Sargsyan: Science & Space
Mark Shelhamer: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Frederic Zenhausern: University of Arizona
Eric M. Bershad: Baylor College of Medicine
Mathias Basner: University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Christopher E. Mason: Weill Cornell Medicine

Nature, 2024, vol. 632, issue 8027, 1155-1164

Abstract: Abstract Human spaceflight has historically been managed by government agencies, such as in the NASA Twins Study1, but new commercial spaceflight opportunities have opened spaceflight to a broader population. In 2021, the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission launched the first all-civilian crew to low Earth orbit, which included the youngest American astronaut (aged 29), new in-flight experimental technologies (handheld ultrasound imaging, smartwatch wearables and immune profiling), ocular alignment measurements and new protocols for in-depth, multi-omic molecular and cellular profiling. Here we report the primary findings from the 3-day spaceflight mission, which induced a broad range of physiological and stress responses, neurovestibular changes indexed by ocular misalignment, and altered neurocognitive functioning, some of which match those of long-term spaceflight2, but almost all of which did not differ from baseline (pre-flight) after return to Earth. Overall, these preliminary civilian spaceflight data suggest that short-duration missions do not pose a significant health risk, and moreover present a rich opportunity to measure the earliest phases of adaptation to spaceflight in the human body at anatomical, cellular, physiological and cognitive levels. Finally, these methods and results lay the foundation for an open, rapidly expanding biomedical database for astronauts3, which can inform countermeasure development for both private and government-sponsored space missions.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07648-x

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