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What does spending more than a year in space do to the human body?

bbc.com · 2,909 words · saved by 1 readers

The record for a single trip into space currently stands at 437 days, but prolonged periods in orbit can alter an astronaut's body in some surprising ways, changing their muscles, brains and even their gut bacteria. With a few handshakes, a brief photoshoot and a wave, Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio bid farewell to the American-football-field-sized collection of modules and solar panels that had been his home for 371 days. His departure from the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth in October 2023 marked the end of the longest single spaceflight by an American to date. His time in orbit – which surpassed the previous US record of 355 consecutive days – was extended in March 2023 after the spacecraft he and his crewmates had been due to fly home in developed a coolant leak. The extra months in space allowed Rubio to clock up a total of 5,963 orbits around the Earth, travelling 157.4 million miles (253.3 million km). Even so, he was still around two months short of the recor

What does spending a long time in space do to the human body? 18 March 2025 Share Save Add as preferred on Google Richard Gray Alamy The record for a single trip into space currently stands at 437 days, but prolonged periods in orbit can alter an astronaut's body in some surprising ways, changing their muscles, brains and even their gut bacteria. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore never expected to stay in orbit for nine months. Their initial trip to the International Space Station onboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft was scheduled to last just eight days in June 2024. But after tec

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