“Spacebound Struggles: Why Doctors Are Racing Against Time to Reach Stranded Astronauts”
After prolonged periods of time in space, astronauts also undergo a number of physiological changes, such as loss of muscle and bone density.
The body undergoes several changes during prolonged periods of time in microgravity or weightlessness
Image credits: NASA/Keegan Barber
“I’ve been up here long enough right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk,” she told the students of her alma mater, Needham High School in Massachusetts, in January.
“I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid down,” she continued.
“You don’t have to,” she added, explaining that one can simply close their eyes and float right where they are.
Image credits: NASA/Keegan Barber
Without Earth’s gravity, weight-bearing bones can lose an average of 1% to 1.5% of bone mineral density per month, according to NASA.
Shenhav Shemer, a professor of biology at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology who researches muscle loss, told Axios that the impact on Wilmore and Williams’ muscle mass would have been “completely reversible” if they only stayed for the initially-planned duration of about a week.
Williams spoke about how she hasn’t walked, sat down, or laid down while in space
Image credits: NASA/Keegan Barber
However, “there are expected to be metabolic and physiological changes that might be irreversible” with long-duration stays in space, she said.
When it comes to long space muscles, an astronaut’s muscles typically return to their pre-flight mass in about a year.
Post Comment