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How a short trip to space affects the human body: research results
According to new research, space tourists experience the same body changes as astronauts who spend months in orbit. However, most of the changes for these travelers occur within a few months of their return to Earth.
The study of the four space tourists was included in a series of studies of the impact of space travel on health, down to the molecular level. According to the researchers, the findings paint a clearer picture of how people who have not undergone years of astronaut training adapt to zero gravity and cosmic radiation, abc News reports.
Scientists have long been studying the effects of space travel on astronauts, including year-long residents of the International Space Station, but minimal attention has been paid to the conditions of space tourists. The first tourist visit to the space station took place in 2001, and in recent years, opportunities for private space travel have expanded.
"The three-day charter flight in 2021 allowed researchers to test how quickly the body reacts and adapts to space flight," said Susan Bailey, a radiation expert at Colorado State University who participated in the study.
Blood, saliva, skin, and other samples were collected from four passengers of the SpaceX plane called Inspiration4. The researchers analyzed the samples and found large-scale shifts in cells and changes in the immune system. Most of these changes stabilized a few months after the four tourists returned home, and the researchers found that the short-term space flight posed no significant risks to their health.
"This is the first time we've done a cellular examination of the crew as they go into space," explained researcher and co-author Chris Mason of Weill Cornell Medicine.
The results of this study are now part of a database studying the effects of spaceflight on the skin, kidneys, and immune system. "The results may help researchers find ways to counteract the negative effects of space travel," said Afshin Beheshti, a researcher at the Blue Marble Space Institute who participated in the study. The scientist said that during the study, they saw only general stress on the body from the flight. But within a few months, 95 percent of the effects disappear and the body's condition can return to a baseline.
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