living in space tagged posts

Space shuttle Atlantis is photographed from the International Space Station as it flies over the Bahamas prior to docking with the station (2011). Credit: NASA

In a discovery with implications for long-term spaceflight and future missions to Mars, a researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has found that mice flown aboard the space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth with early signs of liver disease. “Prior to this study we really didn’t have much information on the impact of spaceflight on the liver,” said A/Prof Karen Jonscher. “We knew that astronauts often returned with diabetes-like symptoms but they usually resolved quickly.”

The mice studied spent 13.5 days aboard the space shuttle...