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Astronaut Health: from the bench to flight across the gravity continuum.    C.E. Wade, T.P. Stein, G. Sonnenfeld and A.R. Hargens,    US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Ft. Sam Houston TX 78234;  University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford, NJ 08084;   Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY  13902; University of California, , San Diego, CA 92103-8894.

   As NASA looks to the long term exploration initiative of sustaining activities on the International Space Station and exploring the Moon and Mars the maintenance of the health and well being of the astronauts has become paramount. The development of the Bioastronautics Critical Path Road Map (http://bioastroroadmap.nasa.gov/index.jsp) has focused research on specific areas of interest. NASA has directed that research efforts be aimed at deliverables to resolve defined risk. While a range of areas of interest are defined the means by which they are to be addressed is not defined. The present symposium will focus on four areas of cross cutting interest: immunology, metabolism, cardiovascular and injury. Presenters will focus on how basic science knowledge is moved into clinical application and how this might be done with NASA applicable research. The focus will be on the demographics defining why areas are of interest, what are the clinical corollaries, if any, how basic research is applied to the problems, and how the knowledge from basic research is transitioned into the NASA flight program.