Scientists have dumped a mountainous cache of research papers on the unsuspecting public in what amounts to the largest collective study of the effects of space travel on human health.
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For the most part, the studies—which range from examining the blood, immune system, cardiovascular system, neurons, dehydration, kidney, liver, skin, reproductive system, and more—paint a picture of spaceflight as a fairly safe activity. Most biological changes quickly return to baseline levels on Earth, although it is important to point out that a few do not.
"It's really mostly good news, in the sense that there are many, many changes across all these layers of biology and … biochemistry, but the vast majority of them are quickly returning to baseline and among the non-OS crew athletes who trained for 10 years to go to space," said Christopher Mason, professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine.
He led a study that relied on data from the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, which launched with a civilian crew in 2021. They found that the three-day spaceflight induced a wide range of physiological and stress responses, changes in balance systems and altered neurocognitive function, "almost all of which did not differ from the (pre-flight) baseline after return to Earth."
