[Some medical problems of piloted mission to Mars]

Medical provisions to planetary missions take in a wide spectrum of medical, engineering and organizational issues the goal of which is to provide good living conditions for humans in space, and to ensure physical and psychic health and performance of crew members during research activities on the Martian surface and soon after return to Earth. The article carefully reviews the problems of defining conceptual approaches to medical support in a mission to Mars. These approaches are grounded on the analysis of medical experience of prolonged orbital missions and prognosis of physiological shifts due to extension of mission up to 2 to 3 years including the period of stay on the Martian surface. Special attention is given to the key medical aspects of the mission, i.e. medical monitoring, countermeasures (including utilization of a short-arm centrifuge) against the adverse effects of microgravity on crew health and keeping-up useful skills and knowledge.