Departures of note

Thais Russomano was a Brazilian physician and researcher who became a world reference in space medicine, pioneering the study of how the human body reacts to the absence of gravity. Born in Porto Alegre and raised in Pelotas, she graduated in medicine from the Federal University of Pelotas before pursuing aerospace medicine abroad, earning a master's degree at Wright State University, completing NASA flight surgeon training, and becoming the first person to earn a PhD in respiratory space physiology at King's College London. She also worked at the German Aerospace Centre in Cologne.

In 1999 she founded the Microgravity Centre at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), the first teaching and research centre in space life sciences in Latin America, which she coordinated for 18 years. She later served as a senior lecturer at King's College London and held roles with the University of Lisbon, Aalto University, and the Mars One advisory board, helping place Brazil on the international map of aerospace research.

Russomano was an elected academician of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine and the International Academy of Astronautics, and authored books and numerous scientific papers on aerospace physiology and telemedicine. She died on 17 October 2026 in Porto Alegre at the age of 63 while being treated for cancer.