**Notes/Thanks/Other declarations**

Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity – distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless.

–Douglas Adams, A Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Of all milestones and achievements in medicine, conquering pain must be one of the very few that has potentially affected every human being in the world. –DH Robinson.

**209**

**Author details**

Independent Scientist, Bangalore, India

provided the original work is properly cited.

\*Address all correspondence to: preethireddy3108@gmail.com

© 2021 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Preethi Reddy

*Challenges to Airway Management in Space DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98932*

Special thanks to Preetam Satish.

*Challenges to Airway Management in Space DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98932*

*Special Considerations in Human Airway Management*

required to manage a great many medical emergencies.

is to support human quest for space exploration.

The author declares no conflict of interest.

–Douglas Adams, A Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

**Notes/Thanks/Other declarations**

Special thanks to Preetam Satish.

sible and therefore meaningless.

**Conflict of interest**

–DH Robinson.

events in space.

in space.

events in space. Persons other than professional astronauts are unprepared for the rigours of space travel and are prone to medical complications and emergencies. In this regard, it is of great importance that astronauts manage medical and surgical

With increasing flight durations, as a result of advances made in spaceflight enabling technologies that would afford deeper exploration into space, the prospect of a medical emergency entailing airway management is increased. Medical evacuation is not an option in such cases and therefore becomes imperative that immediate care is provided, while on board. Such situations call for a crew equipped with emergency care skills and training. Airway management is an important skill that is

This chapter briefly overviews the physiology of the airway, anaesthesia delivery and airway management, on Earth, to compare with and highlight the challenges to human physiology in space given the unique nature of the environment, so as to understand the specific challenges to anaesthesia delivery and airway management,

The enabling technology for space travel, powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms, is advancing exponentially. Medical science typically tends to follow a more measured trajectory and tends to trail relative to the strides made by technology. We will also likely travel to Mars in the near future and this particular mission will come under more scrutiny than any other previous space missions. The crew will be required to travel farther and longer than any other human being in the history of our world. Techniques for airway management will need to undergo and be better defined in the coming years. As it stands, an expanding body of research that is trying to provide a better understanding of many aspects of human health in space is already underway. It is imperative for medical science to rapidly expand its body of knowledge when it comes to space travel, if it

Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity – distance is incomprehen-

Of all milestones and achievements in medicine, conquering pain must be one of

the very few that has potentially affected every human being in the world.

**208**
