This spring, a team of leading biomedical engineers and technical specialists from NASA, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute and Johns Hopkins are teaching a course called Biomedical Aspects of Human Space Flight at APL under the Whiting School Part-Time Programs.

The course will present a variety of biomedical issues and technological developments that must be solved before man can journey to Mars. Topics include neurophysiological aspects of space travel; spacecraft life support systems; environmental hazards; bone and mineral metabolism; muscle structure and atrophy; endocrine functions and biochemical markers; biomedical implications in astronaut training and countermeasures to space deconditioning.