Major General of the Medical Service E. A. Karpov * The news of the first human spaceflight told the planet about the outstanding victory of reason over the forces of nature. Over the past ten years, many manned flights have been completed. However, all the new successes in space occur after that memorable April day when a spacecraft piloted by cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was launched into orbit in the Soviet Union. The first orbital flight of a man-the messenger of the country of socialism-reflected the high level and powerful potential of Russian science, technology, industry and the rockets and aircraft they create, and also showed the courage and skill of Soviet cosmonauts - pioneers of space navigation. It took years of hard work of Soviet scientists, design engineers, technicians, workers, thousands of hours of special training for future space explorers before the Vostok spacecraft with Yuri Gagarin on board went on a round - the-world trip-an orbital flyby of the Earth. Many problems had to be solved in the process of preparing astronauts for flights. It is impossible to list all of them. It is extremely important, for example, to provide life support for the crew of an aircraft - creating the necessary habitat in it. In the cockpit of a spacecraft, as well as in any of its habitable compartments or in a spacesuit, an environment must be provided that would not only guarantee the preservation of human vital functions, but also the necessary human performance during the entire flight. The development of technical systems and devices that allow humans to live and work in space was carried out in close collaboration with designers, engineers, flight training methodologists and specialists in aviation and space medicine. A wide range of research and development activities that were carried out in the 40s-50s and were aimed at studying the specific factors and conditions of aviation, and then space flight, to work out the requirements for life support sys ... Read more