I read Benjamin Rachlin’s piece on space medicine with a mixture of curiosity and incredulity (“Future astronauts may say, ‘Boston, we have a problem,’ ” Ideas, Jan. 4). Is it really the best use of the Boston area’s engineering and research talent to postulate whether we need space ambulances to rescue people on Mars? Sending unwell people into space just because they can afford the trip is just as irresponsible as sending unfit people to climb Mount Everest. Here on Earth people are regularly unable to participate in certain activities if they are unfit. Why enable these extreme protective measures for wealthy space tourists? Just because we can do this, should we?
I fully support the idea of researching vestibular disruption, or inner-ear problems, in space and exploring the reasons why pressure rises and drops in the brain. But can’t that be done with the astronauts we are currently sending to space?
The one justification for this new research field that resonated with me was the statement that space medicine education will prepare doctors to “do more with less.” That is certainly relevant today with the severe shortage in health care resources right here on our own planet. It is going to become ever more important in the future if we spend vast amounts of energy and other resources sending wealthy tourists into space while the common people on Earth die in droves on a polluted, ever-warming, health care-deprived planet.
Ellen Vliet Cohen
Arlington