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Minnesota Doctor Helps Take First Human X-Rays in Space
Three radiologists found the images diagnostic, and the team says the portable device could help astronauts and remote patients alike.
- On April 1, 2025, the SpaceX Fram 2 crew captured the first human X-ray in orbit, successfully imaging astronauts' hands and forearms while circling more than 200 miles above Earth.
- Seeking to monitor bone health in microgravity, Dr. Sheyna Gifford's team purchased a $40,000 commercial X-ray machine off the shelf and submitted it to SpaceX for spring 2025 testing.
- Radiologists evaluated the images without knowing their origin and confirmed they were diagnostic despite minor alignment issues; background radiation did not affect the equipment or image quality.
- Monitoring bone breakdown is a "holy grail of space science," Gifford said, while she partners with Mayo Clinic and Rotary Club to deliver portable X-ray machines to remote regions.
- Portable X-ray equipment could become a key upgrade for the International Space Station before its 2030 retirement, supporting diagnosis in remote environments from Nepal to the space station itself.
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Duluth News Tribune+12 Reposted by 12 other sources
Minnesota doctor helps take first human X-rays in space
Dr. Sheyna Gifford of the Mayo Clinic said her team's research — to see if X-rays can be successfully produced in spaceflight — could have an impact on Earth as well as future space missions.
·Cherokee County, United States
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A Rochester doctor helped humanity achieve a space milestone: the first X-rays in orbit
ROCHESTER — As an occupational medicine physician, Mayo Clinic's Dr. Sheyna Gifford spends a good chunk of her days with patients. Often, those patients are aircraft pilots or folks who need rehabilitative care after a workplace injury. At other times, though, Gifford has her sights set on outer space. Last year, Gifford and her SpaceXray initiative teammates were part of a milestone event: the first radiographs, or X-rays, taken in space. "This…
·Cherokee County, United States
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R 43%
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