RES-01 · Risk & Gap Atlas · Research

Risk & Gap Atlas

Radiation Isolation & Confinement Distance from Earth Gravity Fields Hostile/Closed Environment Public Clinician Researcher

draft AI-assisted Last reviewed: Pending review · Reviewer: Pending review

Bottom line

As of 2026-10-14, NASA's Human Research Roadmap lists 21 active human-system risks and one inactive concern. ◆◆◆◆ High · E
Each risk is rated separately for each mission type. The same risk can be "Accepted" for a 6-month ISS mission and "Requires Mitigation" for Mars. ◆◆◆◆ High · E

Proposed certainty (◆ High → ◇ Very low) and evidence-type tags: F flight · A analog · M model/animal · C computational · E expert/operational/standards. AI-proposed, pending reviewer confirmation. How to read the grades.

How this atlas works

NASA’s Human Research Roadmap (HRR) is the official public record of the human-system risks NASA is working to reduce [1]. As of 2026-10-14 it lists 21 active risks plus one inactive concern [1]. Each page in this atlas covers one risk:

What it is, in plain words.
Current evidence, from NASA’s records and verified peer-reviewed studies.
NASA’s risk posture: the likelihood × consequence ratings and dispositions for each mission type, copied from the HRR [3].
Open knowledge gaps: NASA’s gap IDs and verbatim statements, each linked to its HRR page.
Active countermeasure research: what NASA says it is doing.
Clinical articles: links to SMF’s practical clinical pages.

Titles. Each page shows NASA’s official risk title verbatim, followed by a short SMF label.

Grouping. The five hazards come from NASA’s five hazards of human spaceflight [2]. Assigning each risk to a primary hazard is SMF’s own editorial choice, because many risks are driven by several hazards. Secondary hazards are listed under each group.

Retired risks. NASA has merged several older risks into current ones, for example the radiation central nervous system risk into behavioral health and acute radiation syndromes into medical conditions [1]. Each risk page notes these merges.

Inactive concern. The HRR also lists an inactive “Concern of Intervertebral Disc Damage upon and immediately after re-exposure to Gravity”. It has no page here [1].

Ratings and gaps are copied from the HRR as read on 2026-10-14 (most risk records last published 05/13/25; the carcinogenesis record 08/17/26). NASA updates them periodically. Always check the linked HRR record before citing a rating.

The risks, by hazard

R · Radiation

GCR, solar particle events and trapped belts beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere.

Radiation & cancer — Risk of Radiation Carcinogenesis 12 gaps

Also driven partly by this hazard: Behavioral health & cognition · Medical conditions in flight · Cardiovascular adaptations · Immune changes

I · Isolation & Confinement

Behavioral health, sleep, team dynamics in small, closed crews.

Behavioral health & cognition — Risk of Adverse Cognitive or Behavioral Changes and Psychiatric Disorders Leading to In-mission Health and Performance and Long-term Health Effects 8 gaps
Team performance — Risk of In-Mission Performance and Behavioral Health Decrements Due to Inadequate Cooperation, Coordination, Communication, and Psychosocial Adaptation within a Team 6 gaps
Sleep, circadian rhythm & workload — Risk of Performance Decrements and Adverse Health Outcomes Resulting from Sleep Loss, Circadian Desynchronization, and Work Overload 2 gaps

Also driven partly by this hazard: Earth-independent operations · Immune changes

D · Distance from Earth

Medical autonomy, communication delay, no rapid evacuation.

Medical conditions in flight — Risk of Adverse Health Outcomes and Decrements in Performance Due to Medical Conditions that occur in Mission, as well as Long Term Health Outcomes Due to Mission Exposures 7 gaps
Medications — Risk of Ineffective or Toxic Medications During Long-Duration Exploration Spaceflight 6 gaps
Food & nutrition — Risk of Performance Decrement and Crew Illness Due to Inadequate Food and Nutrition 3 gaps
Earth-independent operations — Risk of Adverse Mission Outcomes Due to Earth Independent Human-Systems Operations 8 gaps

Also driven partly by this hazard: Team performance

G · Gravity Fields

Microgravity, partial gravity, and the transitions between them.

SANS (eye & brain changes) — Risk of Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) 11 gaps
Cardiovascular adaptations — Risk of Cardiovascular Adaptations Contributing to Adverse Mission Performance and Health Outcomes 6 gaps
Bone loss & fracture — Risk of Bone Fracture due to Spaceflight-induced Changes to Bone 6 gaps
Muscle & aerobic fitness — Risk of Mission Performance Decrements and Adverse Health Outcomes Resulting from Reduced Cardiorespiratory and Musculoskeletal Fitness 5 gaps
Sensorimotor & balance — Risk of Altered Sensorimotor/Vestibular Function Impacting Critical Mission Tasks, Human Health, and Long-Term Health 9 gaps
Kidney stones — Risk of Renal Stone Formation 1 gaps
Launch & landing loads — Risk of In-Mission Injury and Performance Decrements and Long-term Health Effects due to Dynamic Loads 4 gaps

Also driven partly by this hazard: Spacewalk (EVA) injury & performance

E · Hostile/Closed Environment

Atmosphere & CO₂, toxicology, microbiology, noise, dust.

Microbes & infection — Risk of Adverse In-Mission and Long-Term Health Effects and Performance Effects Due to Host-Microorganism Interactions 7 gaps
Immune changes — Risk of In Mission Impacts, Adverse Health Events or Long-Term Health Impacts due to Altered Immune Response 7 gaps
Lunar & Mars dust — Risk of Adverse In-Mission Health and Performance Effects and Long-Term Health Effects Due to Celestial Dust Exposure 1 gaps
Hypoxia (exploration atmosphere) — Risk of Reduced Crew Health and Performance Due to Hypoxia 0 gaps
Decompression sickness — Risk of Mission Impacts and Long-Term Health Issues due to Decompression Sickness 0 gaps
Spacewalk (EVA) injury & performance — Risk of Mission Impacting Injury and Compromised Performance and Long-Term Health Effects due to EVA Operations 7 gaps

Also driven partly by this hazard: Medications · SANS (eye & brain changes) · Kidney stones

Evidence profile

Overall certainty: ◆◆◆◆ High (proposed)
Evidence types: E · Expert / operational / standards
Literature through: 2026-10-14

Requirements referenced 0

No NASA-STD-3001 requirement maps directly to this page. See the standards quick reference.

References 4

NASA Human Research Program. Human Research Roadmap: risks list. humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/risks/ NASA E
NASA Human Research Program. 5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight. www.nasa.gov/hrp/hazards/ NASA E
Antonsen EL, et al. Updates to the NASA human system risk management process for space exploration. NPJ Microgravity. 2023;9:72. doi:10.1038/s41526-023-00305-z PMID:37679359 Peer-reviewed E
NASA Human Research Program. Human Research Roadmap: evidence reports. humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/Evidence/ NASA E

Machine-checked on 2026-10-14: each URL resolved, each DOI's title/journal/year matched via Crossref, and claims were checked against the source text (abstract or full NASA page). Human verification against full text is still required before review. NASA documents are U.S. Government works (public domain) and are summarized with attribution; journal articles are summarized, not reproduced.

Article info

Authors: Pending (AI-assisted draft)
Reviewer: Pending review
Last reviewed: Pending review
Literature through: 2026-10-14
AI-assisted: Yes (disclosed)
COI: Pending
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Use: Educational only · Disclaimer
Cite this version: Pending first edition