Space Station Freedom Assured Crew Return Vehicle Medical Issues

Assured Crew Return Capability (ACRC) is the philosophy the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has maintained throughout the history of manned space flight. To maintain this capability with Space Station Freedom (SSF) a vehicle will need to be permanently stationed on SSF. The Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) is being developed to accomplish this mission. This paper will review the medical mission of the ACRV, provide an up-to-date view of medical vehicle design requirements in terms of maturity and discuss the plans to complete the open issues.