The re-emergence of space medicine as a distinct discipline.

Space Medicine is a discipline whose scope will encompass primary and advanced medical care amidst the environmental constraints of space. At one time, there was a Department of Space Medicine associated with the U.S. Air Force School of Aviation Medicine. Until 1993, an academic, university-based training program dedicated to space medicine did not exist. This paper reviews the history of space medicine in the United States. It presents the current conceptions of space medicine, and postulates the need for space medicine to mature as a distinct discipline.