'PHM for Astronauts' Project to Run on the International Space Station: The Status and Plan Forward

This paper reports on the 'PHM for Astronauts' project status. The project is to validate the 'PHM for Human Health and Performance (HHP)' concept that was originally introduced as a predictive diagnostics concept for space medicine in the paper 'System Health Management and Space Medicine Predictive Diagnostics. Common Concepts and Approaches.' in 2012 and then was elaborated and further evolved by the authors over the last seven years. Discussing the project on validation of the advanced concept and corresponding technology candidates with predictive screening capability on the International Space Station (ISS), this paper focuses on a plan to move forward with the project, i.e., the plan to complete the project inception phase and to move into the implementation phase of the project in terms of the current ISS status, evolving ISS program, and latest international developments. This paper also discusses the forward planning exercise in terms of recommendations by experienced astronauts and healthcare professionals on crewed space programs as well as the National Space Exploration Campaign Report recently released by NASA in order to develop a Human Exploration Roadmap that will include a critical decision plan to expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). The novelty of the to-be-validated concept on crew health maintenance is to employ PHM-based solutions with predictive screening capability, providing early and actionable real-time warnings of impending health issues that otherwise would have gone undetected unless a symptom is manifested or a sign is detected at a relatively late stage.