Astronauts' Hearts Change Shape In Space

sciencehabit (1205606) writes "Astronauts who go into space come back with rounder hearts. Scientists who had astronauts regularly take images of their hearts with ultrasound machines found that the organ becomes more spherical in space by a factor of 9.4%. The researchers believe the change in shape, which is temporary, indicates that the heart is performing less efficiently in zero gravity."

Comments

Before I buy that Virgin Galactic ticket, tell me:

[QilessQi]

...do any other, ahem, organs become more spherical? Because that could be a deal breaker.

I astronaut-heart you

[buchner.johannes]

I O U

Re:Spinning Space stations

[FireFury03]

Spinning stations need to be large in diameter: the smaller the diameter, the faster you have to spin it, and the coriolis force starts to really screw with the people inside it. Great if you want the astronauts throwing up all the time. So spinning stations have to be big, which means expensive.

The alternative is to tether two stations together, but NASA have a history of serious problems with tethers.

But do they need it?

[wjcofkc]

I would be curious to know if the heart even has to be as efficient in micro gravity.

Re:Spinning Space stations

[camperdave]

Instead of generating a 1G equivalent force, generate 1/6, or 1/4.

On a trip to Mars you could start at 1G and gradually reduce the spin until you reach 0.38G (Mars surface gravity). On the way back you increase the spin gradually until you reach 1G again. Over the 8 month trip, this would be imperceptible. Astronauts would be acclimated to the gravity of the destination planet by the time they got there.

Re:Before I buy that Virgin Galactic ticket, tell

[BitZtream]

The effects on the penis are documented.

You will be happy with the results, the penis becomes engorged far easier and a bunch of other things resulting in a pleasant surprise to the kind of guy who thinks having his member be a little larger is going to resolve his performance issues.

Likewise the woman's sex organs also fill with blood easier, making them more sensitive.

This is all documented by NASA and other space agencies.

The only thing I question is who they know some of the things they've documented without having a couple astronauts come back and say 'yea, we spanked it in space' or the married couple that went up on one of the shuttle missions really did have sex ... probably while the crew members watched since there really isn't anywhere to be alone. They insist its never happened though ...