2 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/acd24-0156-048.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle and former astronaut Kenneth Cockrell pose with Eli Toribio and Rhydian Daniels at the University of California, San Francisco Bakar Cancer Hospital. Patients gathered to meet the astronauts and learn more about human spaceflight and NASA\u2019s cancer research efforts.<\/div>\nNASA\/Brandon Torres Navarrete<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNASA astronauts, scientists, and researchers, and leadership from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) met with cancer patients and gathered in a discussion about potential research opportunities and collaborations as part of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden\u2019s Cancer Moonshot initiative on Oct. 4.<\/p>\n
Roundtable discussions centered conversation around the five hazards of human spaceflight<\/a>: space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, gravity, and closed or hostile environments. Many of these hazards have direct correlations to a cancer patient\u2019s lived experience, like the isolation of a hospital room and long-term effects of radiation.<\/p>\nDuring the visit with patients at the UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital San Francisco, NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle and former astronaut Kenneth Cockrell answered questions about spaceflight and life in space.<\/p>\n
Patients also received a video message from NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station, and met with Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Eugene Tu, director of NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, and other agency leaders. <\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nLeadership from NASA and the University of California, San Francisco gathered for an informal luncheon before a collaborative roundtable discussion of research opportunities. From left to right, Alan Ashworth, president of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Eugene Tu, director of NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, David Korsmeyer, deputy director of Ames, Sam Hawgood, chancellor of UCSF, and Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBy connecting the dots between human space research and cancer research, NASA and the University of California hope to open doors to innovative new research opportunities. NASA is working with researchers, institutions, and agencies across the federal government to help cut the nation\u2019s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, a goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLearn more about the Cancer Moonshot at:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/cancermoonshot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/acd24-0156-048.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>NASA astronauts, scientists, and researchers, and leadership from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) met with cancer patients and gathered in a discussion about potential research opportunities and collaborations as part of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden\u2019s Cancer Moonshot initiative on Oct. 4.<\/p>\n
Roundtable discussions centered conversation around the five hazards of human spaceflight<\/a>: space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, gravity, and closed or hostile environments. Many of these hazards have direct correlations to a cancer patient\u2019s lived experience, like the isolation of a hospital room and long-term effects of radiation.<\/p>\n During the visit with patients at the UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital San Francisco, NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle and former astronaut Kenneth Cockrell answered questions about spaceflight and life in space.<\/p>\n Patients also received a video message from NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station, and met with Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Eugene Tu, director of NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, and other agency leaders. <\/p>\n By connecting the dots between human space research and cancer research, NASA and the University of California hope to open doors to innovative new research opportunities. NASA is working with researchers, institutions, and agencies across the federal government to help cut the nation\u2019s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, a goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Learn more about the Cancer Moonshot at:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/cancermoonshot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>Share<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n