NASA has begun to reassess the standard precautionary measures it is taking before any launch, to ensure that the Covid-19 virus does not spread among its employees, and to prevent it from reaching space, according to the Space and the Dubai Future Foundation's future observatory.
NASA astronauts are passing through a health examination process during which they will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine, the aim of which is to ensure that no disease is infected before launching into space. Once the astronaut leaves the planet, his ability to fight diseases is undermined by the negative impact that microgravity has on the immune system, which increases the risk of the virus.
Space News reports also indicated that Russia is considering extending the quarantine period for its spaceflight, but the plan is still being implemented to send US astronaut Chris Cassidy, Russian astronauts Anatoly Evanshin and Evan Wagner to the International Space Station on April 9. .
"We expect them to take additional measures to ensure the effectiveness of the quarantine," NASA director Kirk Kirk Sherman told Space News.
The Russian space agency "Roskosmos" was affected by the outbreak of the "Covid-19" virus. As a result of the measures taken by the French government to protect the health of its employees and citizens, the agency was forced to suspend the launch campaigns supposed to be implemented in the Guyana Space Center in French Guiana. Currently, NASA follows the protocols of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat the spread of the virus.
"These protocols include cleaning surfaces and social isolation, emphasizing hand hygiene, as well as urging NASA patients to stay in their homes, and limiting their contact with the rest of the staff," Brandy Dean of NASA told Space.com.
This news comes after an employee from the "Ames Research Center in NASA" was infected with the virus during the past week, which forced the center to prevent work at the center and confine it to homes.