How living in space changes your body, in ways you might not expect

Feb 9, 2017

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider.

A photo taken by Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) aboard the International Space Station shows Italy, the Alps, and the Mediterranean on January, 25, 2016. REUTERS/NASA/Tim Peake/Handout ATTENTION EDITORS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTS8V3O

Space can affect the human body in a variety of ways. Image: REUTERS/NASA/Tim Peake

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In the name of science, former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly recently shoved himself into the top of a rocket, accelerated to 17,500 mph, and fell around Earth for 340 days — nearly an entire year.

The lack of gravity, radiation exposure, Kelly's diet, and other facts of life in orbit affected his body in significant ways — including, as NASA is learning now, even his genetic blueprint.

The Twin Study, which is still in progress, uses Scott Kelly's identical twin brother and fellow former astronaut, Mark Kelly, to unmask the subtle but important effects of long-duration space travel on the human body.

Business Insider's Dina Spector reported on some of the most fascinating preliminary results of the study, which NASA released at the end of January, including bodily changes caused by the possible existence of a "space gene."

Here are eight other biological oddities that happen to your body if you're in space for a year.

Image: Business Insider

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