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NASA's Scott Kelly Shares What He Discovered After a Year In Space (time.com)
Kelly, who returned to Earth after 340 days in space last year, is working on a memoir about his experience in the space since, and how he has been seeing the planet since. Two excerpts from his article on Time: The mission that I prepared for was, for the most part, the mission I flew. The data is still being analyzed, but the scientists are excited about what they are seeing so far. The genetic differences that appeared between my twin brother Mark and me could unlock new knowledge, not only about what spaceflight does to our bodies but also about how we age here on Earth. Emerging results reveal the condition of my telomeres -- the ends of our chromosomes that indicate our genetic age -- actually improved while I was in space compared to Mark's, contrary to expectations. The studies I worked on show promise in helping scientists reach solutions to health problems that emerge in long-duration spaceflight -- problems such as bone loss, muscle deterioration, damage to vision and the effects of extended radiation exposure. [...] Personally, I've learned that nothing feels as amazing as water. The night my plane landed in Houston and I finally got to go home, I did exactly what I'd been saying all along I would do: I walked in the front door, walked out the back door and jumped into the swimming pool, still in my flight suit. I'll never take water for granted again. Russian cosmonaut Misha Kornienko says he feels the same way. I've learned that showing up early, whether it's to a job interview or a spacewalk, is the only way to stay ahead of the game and be successful. "If you're not five minutes early, you're already late."
Seems to me that any long term solution for space travel or space occupation should just involve a centrifuge as living quarters.
Heavy? Yes.
Expensive? Yes.
But if man can't live in space without getting totally fucked up, then I guess that's a small price to pay.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Sigh. 11 months (340 days is a hell of a lot closer to that than it is to 12 months) is in no way shape or form "one year".
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Cosmonaut's comment about punctuality seems strangely off-topic. Might be good to get a earthbound psych eval after all that time up there.
"If you're not five minutes early, you're already late."
Or, show up five minutes early for a meeting, and get kvetched at for spending time in the conference room that you could have been working. You can't win.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Eventually, they'll be able to use genetic therapy and or medication to fix the problem.
Let's ask him to do a Slashdot Ask Me A Question!
That's what they're finding.
and probably won't be making swimming pools of it for a long time.
telomeres -- the ends of our chromosomes that indicate our genetic age
Huh. I knew all that. But then it hit me. After a certain point we should really start talking about people's genetic age as a decreasing value of their telomeres' lengths. Probably an average? Or the minimum? Not all your cells divide at the same rate for sure.
People will go into the negative numbers. When they run out of telomeres and start losing genetic code each division.
It'll show 40 year old people that have a genetic age of T -10 years and 60 year old people that have a genetic age of T -20 years. Plan your savings and health needs accordingly.
So, it took him a year in space to learn about water, and family, and much else... that I learned in ninety days on my first SSBN patrol.