Artemis, Starlab, And The Future Of Space Medicine

InnovationHealthcareArtemis, Starlab, And The Future Of Space MedicineByRobert Glatter, MD,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Robert Glatter is a New York-based physician covering public health. Follow AuthorMay 28, 2026, 03:29pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.IN SPACE - APRIL 07: (EDITOR'S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images' editorial policy.) In this handout image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew – (from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover, and Commander Reid Wiseman – pause for a group photo inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home. Following a swing around the far side of the Moon on April 6, 2026, the crew exited the lunar sphere of influence (the point at which the Moon's gravity has a stronger pull on Orion than the Earth's) on April 7, and are headed back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)NASA via Getty ImagesOn April 10, 2026, four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after the first crewed trip around the Moon in more than half a century. NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, traveled 252,756 miles from Earth aboard the Artemis II mission, farther than any humans have ever been. The headlines, rightly, celebrated the milestone.What got less attention was a small experiment tucked in alongside the crew: tiny chips of living bone marrow tissue, grown from each astronaut’s own blood cells, sent into deep space to see what radiation and weightlessness would do to them.That experiment is called AVATAR, and it is not really about astronauts. It is about the rest of us.Why Space Is A Better Laboratory Than You would ThinkOn Earth, gr...