Draft 4/22

I just read about NASA’s twin study and it really is incredible. I never really thought about the effect that space or zero gravity would have on someone. The twin that went into space didn’t suffer too much on upon entering space. In fact he responded relatively well to being in space. In fact the shortening of his chromosomal telomeres was reduced when in space. This means that his aging process was theoretically slowed. That being said when he returned to Earth his chromosomal telomeres shortened almost immediately and his body had an autoimmune response. His body thought that something was attacking him when in actuality he was not sick at all. He was just adjusting to the full force of gravity. His legs started to swell, he developed rashes, he was in a lot of pain. It took more than eight months for him to return to normal. It did take a toll on his body. The purpose of the study was to see how zero gravity affects the body long term. NASA wanted to know this because they want to know how plausible space travel really is.