PATRICK SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. –
U.S. Space Command’s Command Surgeon hosted the 4th Annual USSPACECOM Joint Space Medicine Forum at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, in conjunction with 1st Air Force, Detachment 3, Feb. 11-13, 2025.
The three-day event was held in conjunction with the Department of Defense, NASA and Federal Aviation Administration’s trilateral meeting, Feb. 10, 2025. The meetings brought together nearly 30 participants serving as key stakeholders to ensure the success of joint space medicine support and USSPACECOM’s mission sets.
The theme of this year’s forum was, “Launch Operations: Medical Considerations of Launching Humans and Payloads.”
As the current landscape of human spaceflight continues to evolve and our nation eyes its return to the lunar surface and beyond with NASA’s Artemis program, the DOD continues to expand its support to human spaceflight operations while also ensuring the freedom to operate within the space domain and support the joint space warfighter.
Following meetings with senior medical leadership from the DOD, FAA, and NASA, attendees were given a first-hand look at operations at Kennedy Space Center where they visited key facilities integral to the launch of astronauts and payloads. During their tour, participants viewed the vehicle assembly building, the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility, and the 1st Air Force, Detachment 3 warehouse. Participants also toured Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to gain awareness of Space Force Guardian’s mission to support launch capabilities.
While visiting the Detachment 3 warehouse, participants learned about the DOD’s support to contingency rescue operations of astronauts during launch and how Detachment 3 personnel are preparing for nominal recovery of astronauts for the Artemis missions.
In addition to scheduled site visits, participants were welcomed by Col. Christopher Bulson, Space Launch Delta 45 deputy commander, who provided an overview of the Delta’s mission. Senior medical leadership also briefed current and future challenges in Space Medicine.
The forum ended with a multifaceted look at the Space Medicine and Training Deep Dive event held in October 2024, and outcomes of the quarterly Space Medicine Education and Training Working Group.
The recap of the Space Medicine Education and Training Deep Dive event highlighted the current progress made on the multitude of initiatives which resulted from that event, including a quarterly Space Medicine Education and Training Working Group to discuss due-outs and future needs, led by the Command Surgeon of USSPACECOM, Col. Melissa Runge.
As the mission of space medicine continues to grow, the need for trained medical providers with knowledge of space is imperative to the military and civilian sectors.
“With the inherent risk in space operations and the amount of coordination that is required before adding the crew, having an organization like USSPACECOM, that is already thinking about and coordinating subject matter experts in the field of space medicine is extremely important considering how fast space exploration is changing,” said Col. Melissa Dooley, Air Force Special Operations Command Command Surgeon.
Feedback from the event was positive, with Col. Sanjay Gogate, Chief of Aerospace Medicine Education Division at U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, stating, “It was a very impressive synopsis of current and future space operations and how the DOD is supporting and elevating cooperative missions between the private sector and the US Government. The race to space is on.”