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echnological requirements of spaceflight drive innovation and economic growth. Outer space assets, such as satellites, have played roles in Canadians' daily and digital lives for decades, but most do not realize it. The Global Positioning System that we use for navigation and the weather forecasts and traffic reports that we check as we plan our activities all involve space technology. 1 Similarly, benefits that space technology can offer health care are not well known. Health and spaceProviding medical care for astronauts involves several challenges, including the need to deliver it remotely from a great distance and limited room for diagnostic tools and other resources onboard compact spacecraft. Over time, space medicine and technology have adapted to better cater to the needs of missions, such as by enhancing the use of remote medicine protocols and developing technology that can easily be transported and used in outer space.Not only does health care play a crucial role in space missions, but technologies used in space have also been playing a vital role in supporting Earth-based health care. These innovations include telemedicine that provides medical care to rural areas or other locations lacking resources. 1,[2][3][4][5][6] Adapting to challenges of space has led to the innovation of portable and self-scanning medical devices used in health delivery, diagnosis, and management. [2][3][4][5][6] Such technology, although developed for use in space or by space agencies, can in turn have impacts on health care on Earth. 1,2,4,6 Among such devices are the Canadian Space Agency's Bio-Monitor, which provides continuous health monitoring, and its Bio-Analyzer, which tests blood and other bodily fluids and provides results within minutes. Being portable, such devices can easily be used anywhere, including in remote locations and during relief missions. [2][3][4]6 This article has been peer reviewed.

Knowledge transfer among research disciplines can lead to substantial research progress. At first glance, astronaut health and rare diseases may be seen as having little common ground for such an exchange. However, deleterious health conditions linked to human space exploration may well be considered as a narrow sub-category of rare diseases. Here, we compare and contrast research and healthcare in the contexts of rare diseases and space health and identify common barriers and avenues of improvement. The prevalent genetic basis of most rare disorders contrasts sharply with the occupational considerations required to sustain human health in space. Nevertheless small sample sizes and large knowledge gaps in natural history are examples of the parallel challenges for research and clinical care in the context of both rare diseases and space health. The two areas also face the simultaneous challenges of evidence scarcity and the pressure to deliver therapeutic solutions, mandating expeditious translation of research knowledge into clinical care. Sharing best practices between these fields, including increasing participant involvement in all stages of research and ethical sharing of standardized data, has the potential to contribute to humankind’s efforts to explore ever further into space while caring for people on Earth in a more inclusive fashion.

es exigences technologiques des vols spatiaux alimentent l'innovation et la croissance économique. Les biens situés dans l'espace extra-atmosphérique, comme les satellites, ont joué des rôles importants dans la vie quotidienne et numérique des Canadiens pendant des décennies, sans que la majorité s'en soit rendu compte. Le système de géolocalisation GPS que nous utilisons pour la navigation et les prévisions météorologiques, de même que les rapports sur la circulation routière que nous consultons pour planifier nos activités font tous appel à la technologie spatiale 1 . Les bienfaits que peut offrir la technologie spatiale aux soins de santé ne sont pas bien connus.Cet article a fait l'objet d'une révision par des pairs.