
About Us
What on Earth is Space Surgery?
Surgery ​is a part of modern life—the average person globally undergoes roughly one surgical procedure every 25 years of their life. Some of the most common operations are the removal of appendix and the removal of gallbladder, which are prompted by acute medical conditions.
As humanity ventures further into space, we will be exposed to extreme environments for longer periods of time. Should an acute medical condition that requires surgery arise in spaceflight, we must be prepared.
Our History
The Space Surgery Association (SSA) was founded in 2019 by a group of surgeons, procedural medicine physicians and specialists, scientists, and engineers working jointly to develop capabilities to perform surgery in the spaceflight environment. We are an constituent organization of AsMA, the Aerospace Medical Association, and meet annually at the AsMA conference.