Entering a New Era of Holistic Research in Establishing Groundwork for Future Human Space Exploration: Perspectives from the ESA-Topical Team “Stress and Immunity”

Abstract

We are currently entering a new era of manned space flight, which will expand human presence to the moon and Mars as outlined in the roadmaps of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG, www.globalspaceexploration.org). This roadmap builds on the vision for “a coordinated human and robotic exploration of our solar system” within this century, and envisions permanent human colonization on the Moon and on our neighboring planet. This goal set by the established and emerging space countries and agencies, as well as by private entrepreneurs, has further fueled the pace and created impact in this new “race to space” to moon again and to Mars, following the first era in exploring the Earth orbit and the landing on the Moon in the past century. These new strategies mandate that we also need to enter a new era of holistic research to better understand human beings subjected to extreme environments for longer periods of time.

Alexander Choukér, Sarah Baatout, Patrizia Campolongo, Jean-Pol Frippiat, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Ines Kaufmann, Nicola Montano, Siegfried Praun, Dominique de Quervain, Benno Roozendaal, Gustav Schelling, Manfred Thiel, Detlef Thieme, Antoine Viola are the TT-members and Judith-Irina Buchheim, Alex Salam and Anne Guo are co-authors of this chapter.

The European Space Agency (ESA) supports teams of international experts in “Topical Teams.” ESA-Topical Teams are open structures led by European researchers to address a scientific field in which gravity and access to space or planetary bodies constitute as cornerstones of their research. The members of the Topical Team “Stress and Immunity” played a crucial role in the realization of this book and its second edition and authored this prelude collectively as a group.