MISSION: All Systems GO!
Our Story
"Dr. Corrie!!! This looks like a spaceship!!!"
When you’re a sick and weak four-year-old, getting strapped down and loaded into a huge, rattlingly loud and ominous MRI-like machine can be terrifying. Imagine being subjected to that, over and over, for weeks, even months.
As a pediatric anesthesiologist, it’s Dr. Corrie Anderson’s job to make sure the sick kids at Seattle’s Fred Hutch Proton Therapy Center are calm enough to undergo each scary treatment session. And, like most doctors in his field, this world-renowned clinician believes “less is more,” preferring to limit the risks associated with strong sedatives whenever possible. Naturally, Anderson is always on the lookout for potential alternatives for his beloved kiddos.
So, when Anderson met Al Feinberg, Media Specialist for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program, something clicked.
“A lot of these little kids,” explained Anderson, a longtime NASA enthusiast, “see this big [proton therapy] metal thing for the first time and say, ‘Dr. Corrie!!! This looks like a spaceship!!!” Anderson then appealed to Feinberg for help. “There’s gotta be something there, right? Something we can do to make it easier for these kids??!!”
That was the summer of 2021.
Today, MISSION: All Systems GO! leverages a NASA Astronaut’s influence to provide virtual 1:1 support and guidance to kids about to embark on their treatment “mission” aboard their own special “spaceship.”
It’s a “less” that means a lot “more” to Dr. Corrie Anderson and his young patients in Seattle.
NASA SCaN thanks Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center, the National Association for Proton Therapy, and NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer for helping make this project a success.
MISSION: All Systems GO! videos and accompanying materials are downloadable and free to use by U.S. medical treatment centers.
