Who Gets Sick in Space? Orbital Tourists May Offer Better Clues.
The New York Times
Commercial spaceflight brings a more diverse cross section of humanity beyond Earth, helping medical researchers collect data.
Doctors have poked and prodded NASA astronauts for years, and the astronauts, as government employees, have largely acceded to their roles as test animals in studying how an alien environment — outer space — affects the human body.
But professional astronauts have historically been a small slice of humanity. Initially, they were chosen from the ranks of military test pilots who were white, physically fit men. Later, as NASA broadened its criteria, it still chose only astronauts who passed their physical thresholds.
But that could be changing as private spaceflight opens space to a more diverse cross section of humanity.