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from the just-stay-horizontal-and-wear-tight-spandex dept.
New research brings more bad news to astronauts thinking about long-haul space flights as spinal muscles shrink after months in space, scientists have found.
Floating around in space in an environment with little or no gravity is not good for the human body. Along with decreased bone density, nausea, a puffy face, possible cognitive deterioration, an astronaut's back starts to weaken too.
The research is part of NASA's wider project to study the physical effects space has on the body to prepare for long-haul flights to Mars.
Results from the NASA-funded research have been published in Spine, and show spinal damage persists months after the astronauts return to Earth.
Six NASA crew members were subjected to MRI scans before and after spending four to seven months floating around the microgravity conditions of the International Space Station.
NASA should send the astronauts into space with one of those inversion tables so they can hang upside down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 28 2016, @06:57PM
How would you blind the astronauts as to whether it is before/after they have been in orbit? It makes sense it was not double blind, it is a travesty it was not single blind though.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday October 31 2016, @02:57PM
Oh, whatever. It's all statistics mumbo-jumbo. You know what I meant :P
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"