NASA SHOCKED AFTER THEY COMPARED THE HEALTH OF AN ASTRONAUT AND HIS TWIN ON EARTH

When NASA flew one identical twin astronaut up to Earth and kept the other here on Earth, they took advantage of the extremely unusual circumstance that they had identical twin astronauts working for the American space agency. Greetings from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to Scott and Mark Kelly, two now-retired astronauts. Born in 1964, the twins started a career in science that required them to travel abroad on many occasions. With the twin brother in orbit for nearly a year, NASA had a specific reason for putting Scott in space in 2015 and 2016—specifically, 340 days—less than the record set by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov.

What did NASA do?

Alongside Russian astronaut Mikhail Kornienko, Scott Kelly was launched into orbit on their way to the International orbit Station. The pair had one significant duty to do before liftoff in March 2015. According to NASA, the mission's objective was to comprehend how the human body responds and adjusts to the hostile environment of space.

"Nearly 400 experiments were carried out aboard the station during the 340-day mission."

This was done to determine whether any health problems could be found and used to lower the hazards faced by NASA astronauts in the future when the agency transitions to a time beyond low Earth orbit. We're discussing travel to Mars and beyond, which we know Elon Musk of SpaceX is eager to do. 

How did the twin brother factor into this?

Mark, Scott Kelly's twin brother, was also a NASA astronaut, serving as a shuttle commander for the space agency. Scott spent 340 days in space, but Mark remained on Earth. NASA wanted to examine how their health would have changed after one of them spent a little over a year without gravity because they had the same biological makeup. Before leaving for space and again after Scott's return, both men underwent a series of examinations. We're discussing blood tests, stool tests, saliva and urine tests, cognitive and vision tests, and physical activity.

What did NASA find when they compared the twins?

The results were released in a publication known as "The Twin Study." The findings of NASA's Human Research Program astounded Deputy Chief Scientist Steven Platts. Surprisingly, Scott had no significant long-term health issues that might be related to lengthy flying. After the landing, his stress level returned to normal, and his immune system acted rather normally. Unusual outcomes included Scott's white blood cells having longer telomeres, among other things. Telomeres are biomarkers for accelerated ageing or other hazards like cancer or heart disease, and they typically shrink as you age. NASA was startled to learn about his lengthening.

Overall, Platts stated: "The outcomes we've observed... demonstrate the human body's robustness and resilience. "We've developed in a one-gravity environment on Earth, where we grow up, train, and do everything. Nevertheless, when we travel into space, our bodies adjust and continue to work, and they generally perform incredibly well. "When Scott returned to Earth, the great majority of the changes he had observed returned to baseline in a comparatively short amount of time. Those that didn't serve as indicators of events we already knew were about to occur."This will guide future biomedical space research and allow us to have a safer journey to and from Mars."