does space travel age you

Does a year in space make you older or younger?

Professor of Radiation Cancer Biology and Oncology, Colorado State University

Disclosure statement

Susan Bailey owns shares in KromaTid, Inc.

Colorado State University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

View all partners

• Bahasa Indonesia

Daily life aboard the International Space Station moves fast. Really fast. Traveling at approximately 17,000 miles per hour, 300 miles above the Earth, astronauts watch 16 sunrises and sunsets every “day” while floating around in a box with a handful of people they depend on for survival.

One need look no further than Hollywood blockbusters like “ The Martian ,” “ Gravity ” and “ Interstellar ” for futuristic visions of life beyond Earth as we venture longer and deeper into outer space. But what about the human body’s response to real-life spaceflight – what are the health effects? Will space travelers age at different rates than those of us on Earth? Just how adaptable to the space environment are we?

Certainly these are concerns for NASA. How space travel and long-duration missions might change the human body, and whether those changes are permanent or reversible once astronauts return to Earth, is largely unknown. The opportunity to explore these intriguing questions arose with identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly.

In November of 2012, NASA selected astronaut Scott Kelly for its first one-year mission. At a press conference not long thereafter, it was Scott who hinted that that this mission might provide the chance to compare the impact of space living on his body with his Earth-dwelling identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, who had also been an astronaut and former Navy test pilot. Remarkably, the Kelly twins were individuals of similar “nature (genetics) and nurture (environment),” and so the perfect space experiment was conceived – featuring “space twin and Earth twin” as the stars. Scott would spend a year in space aboard the International Space Station, while his identical twin brother, Mark, would remain on Earth.

The NASA TWINS Study represents the most comprehensive view of the human body’s response to space flight ever conducted. Results will guide future studies and personalized approaches for evaluating health effects of individual astronauts for years to come.

As a cancer biologist at Colorado State University I study the impact of radiation exposure on human cells. As part of the TWINS Study, I was particularly interested in evaluating how the ends of the chromosomes, called telomeres, were altered by a year in space.

Teasing apart health effects of space living

NASA put out a call and selected 10 peer-reviewed investigations from around the country for the TWINS Study. Studies included molecular, physiological and behavioral measures, and for the first time ever in astronauts, “omics”-based studies. Some teams evaluated the impact of space on the genome – the entire complement of DNA in a cell (genomics). Other teams examined which genes were turned on and producing a molecule called mRNA (transcriptomics). Some studies focused on how chemical modifications – which do not alter the DNA code – affected the regulation of the genes (epigenomics). Some researchers explored the proteins produced in the cells (proteomics), whereas others scrutinized the products of metabolism (metabolomics).

There were also studies examining how the space environment might alter the microbiome – the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in and on our bodies. One investigation examined the immune response to the flu vaccine. Other teams searched Scott’s biological samples for biomarkers of atherosclerosis and upward fluid shifts in the body due to microgravity, which can affect vision and cause headaches. Cognitive performance was also evaluated using computer-run cognition tests specifically designed for astronauts.

More than 300 biological samples – stool, urine and blood – were collected from the twins at multiple times before, during and after the one year mission.

The Kelly twins are without a doubt one of the most profiled pairs – on or off our planet. They are also one of the most interviewed. One question often asked is whether Scott will return from space younger than Mark – a situation reminiscent of “Interstellar” or Einstein’s so-called “ Twin Paradox .” However, because the ISS is not traveling anywhere near the speed of light relative to us, time dilation – or the slowing of time due to motion – is very minimal. So any age difference between the brothers would only be a few milliseconds.

Even so, the question of spaceflight-associated aging and the accompanying risk of developing age-related diseases like dementia, cardiovascular disease and cancer – during or after a mission – is an important one, and one that we aimed to address directly with our study of telomere length.

Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes that protect them from damage and from “fraying” – much like the end of a shoestring. Telomeres are critical for maintaining chromosome and genome stability. However, telomeres naturally shorten as our cells divide, and so also as we age. The rate at which telomeres shorten over time is influenced by many factors, including oxidative stress and inflammation, nutrition, physical activity, psychological stresses and environmental exposures like air pollution, UV rays and ionizing radiation. Thus, telomere length reflects an individual’s genetics, experiences and exposures, and so are informative indicators of general health and aging.

Telomeres and aging

Our study proposed that the unique stresses and out-of-this-world exposures the astronauts experience during spaceflight – things like isolation, microgravity, high carbon dioxide levels and galactic cosmic rays – would accelerate telomere shortening and aging. To test this, we evaluated telomere length in blood samples received from both twins before, during and after the one year mission.

Scott and Mark started the study with relatively similar telomere lengths, which is consistent with a strong genetic component. Also as expected, the length of Earth-bound Mark’s telomeres was relatively stable over the course of the study. But much to our surprise, Scott’s telomeres were significantly longer at every time point and in every sample tested during spaceflight. That was exactly the opposite of what we expected.

Furthermore, upon Scott’s return to Earth, telomere length shortened rapidly, then stabilized during the following months to near pre-flight averages. However, from the perspective of aging and risk of disease, he had many more short telomeres after spaceflight than he did before. Our challenge now is to figure out how and why such spaceflight specific shifts in telomere length dynamics are occurring.

Our findings will have relevance to earthlings as well, since we all grow old and develop age-related conditions. These TWINS Study results may provide new clues into the processes involved, and thereby improve our understanding of what we might do to avoid them or extend health span.

The long-term health effects of long duration spaceflight are yet to be determined, but the TWINS Study represents a landmark step in humankind’s journey to the moon, Mars and beyond…and to making science fiction science fact.

• International Space Station (ISS)
• Scott Kelly
• Twin studies
• Epigenomics
• Life in space

Faculty of Law - Academic Appointment Opportunities

Operations Manager

Senior Education Technologist

Audience Development Coordinator (fixed-term maternity cover)

Lecturer (Hindi-Urdu)

MIT Technology Review

• Newsletters

Would you really age more slowly on a spaceship at close to light speed?

• Neel V. Patel archive page

Every week, the readers of our space newsletter, The Airlock , send in their questions for space reporter Neel V. Patel to answer. This week: time dilation during space travel. 

I heard that time dilation affects high-speed space travel and I am wondering the magnitude of that affect. If we were to launch a round-trip flight to a nearby exoplanet—let's say 10 or 50 light-years away––how would that affect time for humans on the spaceship versus humans on Earth? When the space travelers came back, will they be much younger or older relative to people who stayed on Earth? —Serge

Time dilation is a concept that pops up in lots of sci-fi, including Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game , where one character ages only eight years in space while 50 years pass on Earth. This is precisely the scenario outlined in the famous thought experiment the Twin Paradox : an astronaut with an identical twin at mission control makes a journey into space on a high-speed rocket and returns home to find that the twin has aged faster.

Time dilation goes back to Einstein’s theory of special relativity, which teaches us that motion through space actually creates alterations in the flow of time. The faster you move through the three dimensions that define physical space, the more slowly you’re moving through the fourth dimension, time––at least relative to another object. Time is measured differently for the twin who moved through space and the twin who stayed on Earth. The clock in motion will tick more slowly than the clocks we’re watching on Earth. If you’re able to travel near the speed of light, the effects are much more pronounced. 

Unlike the Twin Paradox, time dilation isn’t a thought experiment or a hypothetical concept––it’s real. The 1971 Hafele-Keating experiments proved as much, when two atomic clocks were flown on planes traveling in opposite directions. The relative motion actually had a measurable impact and created a time difference between the two clocks. This has also been confirmed in other physics experiments (e.g., fast-moving muon particles take longer to decay ). 

So in your question, an astronaut returning from a space journey at “relativistic speeds” (where the effects of relativity start to manifest—generally at least one-tenth the speed of light ) would, upon return, be younger than same-age friends and family who stayed on Earth. Exactly how much younger depends on exactly how fast the spacecraft had been moving and accelerating, so it’s not something we can readily answer. But if you’re trying to reach an exoplanet 10 to 50 light-years away and still make it home before you yourself die of old age, you’d have to be moving at close to light speed. 

There’s another wrinkle here worth mentioning: time dilation as a result of gravitational effects. You might have seen Christopher Nolan’s movie Interstellar , where the close proximity of a black hole causes time on another planet to slow down tremendously (one hour on that planet is seven Earth years).

This form of time dilation is also real, and it’s because in Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravity can bend spacetime, and therefore time itself. The closer the clock is to the source of gravitation, the slower time passes; the farther away the clock is from gravity, the faster time will pass. (We can save the details of that explanation for a future Airlock.)

The search for extraterrestrial life is targeting Jupiter’s icy moon Europa

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will travel to one of Jupiter's largest moons to look for evidence of conditions that could support life.

• Stephen Ornes archive page

Amplifying space’s potential with quantum

How to safely watch and photograph the total solar eclipse.

The solar eclipse this Monday, April 8, will be visible to millions. Here’s how to make the most of your experience.

• Rhiannon Williams archive page

How scientists are using quantum squeezing to push the limits of their sensors

Fuzziness may rule the quantum realm, but it can be manipulated to our advantage.

• Sophia Chen archive page

Stay connected

Get the latest updates from mit technology review.

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at [email protected] with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.

Does space travel make people age more slowly?

• 2 min. read ▪ Published February 22, 2021
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Facebook
• Share on X (Twitter)

Scientists have recently observed for the first time that, on an epigenetic level, astronauts age more slowly during long-term simulated space travel than they would have if their feet had been planted on Planet Earth.

“Many of us assume that being exposed to radiation or other harm in space would be reflected by increased aging. But there’s also been a lot of research that has shown the opposite,” said Jamaji C. Nawanaji-Enwerem, Berkeley Public Health postdoctoral fellow and first author of a study published in Cell Reports in November 2020. The study reviewed data from the six participants of the Mars-500 mission, a simulated space travel and residence experiment launched by the European Space Agency in 2010.

In space, people usually experience environmental stressors like microgravity, cosmic radiation, and social isolation, which can all impact aging. Studies on long-term space travel often measure aging biomarkers such as telomere length and heartbeat rates, not epigenetic aging. To fill in the gap, Nawanaji-Enwerem and his team members took the novel step to look at epigenetic biomarkers such as DNAmPhenoAge, a robust marker of disease risk, and DNAmGrimAGE, a predictor of mortality risk.

The findings show that space mission duration will lead to a slower aging process, which looks like a good thing. “But if the mission goes on for longer, it can actually be a bad thing for you,” said Nawanaji-Enwerem.

“It also informs future research in terms of what biomarkers of aging are important to measure,” said Andres Cardenas, study co-author and assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Berkeley Public Health.

During the Mars-500 experiment, six astronaut crews stayed in an isolated space and lived as if they were on Mars for 520 days. Cosmic radiation and microgravity were not replicated in the experiment, so the slower aging process found by scientists is caused by social isolation and other relative effects.

Although it’s not clear why space travel would lead to slower epigenetic aging, the findings will be valuable for understanding the health implications for future space travel.

“It’s not if, but when, we’re going to transition to space living,” said Cardenas.

More in category “Research Highlights”:

Rosemarie de la rosa tracks how childhood exposure to environmental pollutants and social stress has lifelong affect, new study shows that many california pharmacists are willing—but unable—to prescribe medication abortion, climate change, pollution, and collapsing biodiversity are damaging our immune systems, uc berkeley anthropology and public health researchers secure $3.1 million nih grant to combat dengue fever in peru.

Advertisement

How do humans age in space?

• Share Content on Facebook
• Share Content on LinkedIn
• Share Content on Flipboard
• Share Content on Reddit
• Share Content via Email

Because astronauts like the ones on the International Space Station (ISS) are moving so quickly, they're also aging a bit more slowly than the rest of us. Due to a principle of physics known as time dilation , after a six-month stint on the ISS, returning astronauts are just a tiny bit younger than the rest of us. But before you book a ticket that'll take you literally out of this world, understand this isn't exactly a fountain of youth we're talking about. Your six-month effort at age reduction will only garner you about 0.007 seconds of extra life, according to the calculations of one ISS astronaut [source: Lu ].

But that's not really the issue we're talking about when we discuss how humans age in space. Let's start with a rundown of how the aging process typically proceeds on Earth . Until scientists muster up a way to make us all immortal, most of us will go through the process of aging. This typically involves metamorphoses like bones becoming brittle, blood vessels hardening, muscles wasting away, joints stiffening up, bowels turning irritable, bladders becoming unpredictable, teeth decaying, vision growing dim, skin wrinkling up, and so on.

While for most people, it takes decades to really start to feel the effects of the aging process, humans stationed in space experience some of them in fast-forward. They're often reversible once an astronaut returns home, although sometimes a few of the changes can be permanent.

A lack of gravity is the main cause for these intense alterations. Gravity is one of the most important forces at work on Earth, and it plays an immense role in the majority of our bodily systems. Take the muscles, for example. Older peoples' muscles tend to shrink and atrophy as they age and become less mobile. Astronauts' muscles react in a similar way because they are barely used. That's why astronauts in space for extended periods of time use special exercise machines to help mitigate this effect.

A similar process takes place in the bones. After a certain age, people on Earth start to lose mass in their bones, typically at a rate of about 1-to-2 percent a year. But in space, those people lose bone mass at a greatly accelerated rate: as much as 1-to-2 percent a month. Because the astronauts' skeletal systems don't need to support their weight, the bones begin to decrease production of new bone material and increase the amount of old bone absorption. Luckily, their skeletal systems usually return to normal once they've spent some time back on terra firma [source: NASA ].

Even though they're saving 0.007 seconds, astronauts still experience some of the symptoms of a drawn-out aging process. Researchers are working to figure out the mechanics of why these changes occur, as well as what can be done to prevent them. This information could not only to help make spaceflight easier on the human body, but to help improve life on Earth as well.

Do You Age In Space FAQ

Do you age faster in space, how long is one day in space, would we age more slowly on other planets, how do you calculate your age on other planets, lots more information, related howstuffworks articles.

• Do short people live longer?
• How does aging work?
• 5 Stereotypes About Aging (That Just Aren't True)
• How does aging affect sexual health?
• Is there an anti-aging gene?
• What's a blue zone, and am I living in one?
• What do free radicals have to do with aging?
• Which country's people have the longest life expectancy and why?

More Great Links

• CDC on Healthy Aging
• National Institute on Aging
• Discovery Health Staying Young Center
• U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services' Administration on Aging
• Carter Snare, Carolyn. "Astronauts may be able to lessen bone loss during spaceflight by standing on an oscillating platform for short periods. Ground-based tests have shown that genetics might indicate how bone will respond to their countermeasure." NASA. (9/15/2010) http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/research_projects/shaken.html
• "Ed's Musings from Space." NASA. (9/15/2010) http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp7/luletters/lu_letter13.html
• "Healthy Aging." Mayo Clinic. (9/15/2010) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aging/HA00040
• "Human Space Adaptation Helps us Understand Aging." NASA. (9/15/2010) http://weboflife.nasa.gov/currentResearch/currentResearchGeneralArchives/aging.htm
• Lujen, Barbara and White, Ronald. "Human Physiology in Space." National Space Biomedical Research Institute. (9/15/2010) http://www.nsbri.org/HumanPhysSpace/index.html
• Ward, Liz. "The Aging Process." Discovery Health. (9/15/2010) https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/aging/aging.htm

Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article:

Does A Year In Space Make You Older Or Younger?

Experts in academia, providing fact-based analysis of issues for the public.

Are space twin Scott and Earth twin Mark no longer identical? Robert Markowitz/NASA

By Susan Bailey

Daily life aboard the International Space Station moves fast. Really fast. Traveling at approximately 17,000 miles per hour, 300 miles above the Earth, astronauts watch 16 sunrises and sunsets every “day” while floating around in a box with a handful of people they depend on for survival.

One need look no further than Hollywood blockbusters like “ The Martian ,” “ Gravity ” and “ Interstellar ” for futuristic visions of life beyond Earth as we venture longer and deeper into outer space. But what about the human body’s response to real-life spaceflight — what are the health effects? Will space travelers age at different rates than those of us on Earth? Just how adaptable to the space environment are we?

Certainly these are concerns for NASA. How space travel and long-duration missions might change the human body, and whether those changes are permanent or reversible once astronauts return to Earth, is largely unknown. The opportunity to explore these intriguing questions arose with identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly.

In November of 2012, NASA selected astronaut Scott Kelly for its first one-year mission. At a press conference not long thereafter, it was Scott who hinted that that this mission might provide the chance to compare the impact of space living on his body with his Earth-dwelling identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, who had also been an astronaut and former Navy test pilot. Remarkably, the Kelly twins were individuals of similar “nature (genetics) and nurture (environment),” and so the perfect space experiment was conceived — featuring “space twin and Earth twin” as the stars. Scott would spend a year in space aboard the International Space Station, while his identical twin brother, Mark, would remain on Earth.

The NASA TWINS Study represents the most comprehensive view of the human body’s response to space flight ever conducted. Results will guide future studies and personalized approaches for evaluating health effects of individual astronauts for years to come.

As a cancer biologist at Colorado State University I study the impact of radiation exposure on human cells. As part of the TWINS Study, I was particularly interested in evaluating how the ends of the chromosomes, called telomeres, were altered by a year in space.

Health effects of space living

NASA put out a call and selected 10 peer-reviewed investigations from around the country for the TWINS Study. Studies included molecular, physiological and behavioral measures, and for the first time ever in astronauts, “omics”-based studies. Some teams evaluated the impact of space on the genome – the entire complement of DNA in a cell (genomics). Other teams examined which genes were turned on and producing a molecule called mRNA (transcriptomics). Some studies focused on how chemical modifications — which do not alter the DNA code – affected the regulation of the genes (epigenomics). Some researchers explored the proteins produced in the cells (proteomics), whereas others scrutinized the products of metabolism (metabolomics).

There were also studies examining how the space environment might alter the microbiome – the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in and on our bodies. One investigation examined the immune response to the flu vaccine. Other teams searched Scott’s biological samples for biomarkers of atherosclerosis and upward fluid shifts in the body due to microgravity, which can affect vision and cause headaches. Cognitive performance was also evaluated using computer-run cognition tests specifically designed for astronauts.

More than 300 biological samples — stool, urine and blood — were collected from the twins at multiple times before, during and after the one year mission.

The Kelly twins are without a doubt one of the most profiled pairs – on or off our planet. They are also one of the most interviewed. One question often asked is whether Scott will return from space younger than Mark — a situation reminiscent of “Interstellar” or Einstein’s so-called “ Twin Paradox .” However, because the ISS is not traveling anywhere near the speed of light relative to us, time dilation — or the slowing of time due to motion — is very minimal. So any age difference between the brothers would only be a few milliseconds.

Even so, the question of spaceflight-associated aging and the accompanying risk of developing age-related diseases like dementia, cardiovascular disease and cancer — during or after a mission — is an important one, and one that we aimed to address directly with our study of telomere length.

Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes that protect them from damage and from “fraying” — much like the end of a shoestring. Telomeres are critical for maintaining chromosome and genome stability. However, telomeres naturally shorten as our cells divide, and so also as we age. The rate at which telomeres shorten over time is influenced by many factors, including oxidative stress and inflammation, nutrition, physical activity, psychological stresses and environmental exposures like air pollution, UV rays and ionizing radiation. Thus, telomere length reflects an individual’s genetics, experiences and exposures, and so are informative indicators of general health and aging.

Telomeres and aging

Our study proposed that the unique stresses and out-of-this-world exposures the astronauts experience during spaceflight — things like isolation, microgravity, high carbon dioxide levels and galactic cosmic rays — would accelerate telomere shortening and aging. To test this, we evaluated telomere length in blood samples received from both twins before, during and after the one year mission.

Scott and Mark started the study with relatively similar telomere lengths, which is consistent with a strong genetic component. Also as expected, the length of Earth-bound Mark’s telomeres was relatively stable over the course of the study. But much to our surprise, Scott’s telomeres were significantly longer at every time point and in every sample tested during spaceflight. That was exactly the opposite of what we expected.

Furthermore, upon Scott’s return to Earth, telomere length shortened rapidly, then stabilized during the following months to near pre-flight averages. However, from the perspective of aging and risk of disease, he had many more short telomeres after spaceflight than he did before. Our challenge now is to figure out how and why such spaceflight specific shifts in telomere length dynamics are occurring.

Our findings will have relevance to earthlings as well, since we all grow old and develop age-related conditions. These TWINS Study results may provide new clues into the processes involved, and thereby improve our understanding of what we might do to avoid them or extend health span.

The long-term health effects of long duration spaceflight are yet to be determined, but the TWINS Study represents a landmark step in humankind’s journey to the moon, Mars and beyond … and to making science fiction science fact.

Susan Bailey is a Professor of Radiation Cancer Biology and Oncology at Colorado State University . This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit news source dedicated to democratizing information, under a Creative Commons license. Read more articles on science from researchers .

Support HuffPost

Our 2024 coverage needs you, your loyalty means the world to us.

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.

Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.

Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your contribution of as little as $2 will go a long way.

Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.

Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.

Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.

Dear HuffPost Reader

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

Popular in the Community

From our partner, more in u.s. news.

Colorado State University

Saturday, April 13

• University Source
• Agricultural Sciences
• Health and Human Sciences
• Liberal Arts
• Natural Sciences
• Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
• Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
• Warner College of Natural Resources
• Office of Engagement and Extension

Does a year in space make you older or younger?

By Susan Bailey

Editor’s note: Susan Bailey , a professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, wrote this piece for The Conversation in April 2019. Colorado State is a contributing institution to The Conversation , an independent collaboration between editors and academics that provides informed news analysis and commentary to the general public. See the entire list of contributing faculty and their articles here .

Daily life aboard the International Space Station moves fast. Really fast. Traveling at approximately 17,000 miles per hour, 300 miles above the Earth, astronauts watch 16 sunrises and sunsets every “day” while floating around in a box with a handful of people they depend on for survival.

One need look no further than Hollywood blockbusters like “ The Martian ,” “ Gravity ” and “ Interstellar ” for futuristic visions of life beyond Earth as we venture longer and deeper into outer space. But what about the human body’s response to real-life spaceflight – what are the health effects? Will space travelers age at different rates than those of us on Earth? Just how adaptable to the space environment are we?

Certainly these are concerns for NASA. How space travel and long-duration missions might change the human body, and whether those changes are permanent or reversible once astronauts return to Earth, is largely unknown. The opportunity to explore these intriguing questions arose with identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly.

In November of 2012, NASA selected astronaut Scott Kelly for its first one-year mission. At a press conference not long thereafter, it was Scott who hinted that that this mission might provide the chance to compare the impact of space living on his body with his Earth-dwelling identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, who had also been an astronaut and former Navy test pilot. Remarkably, the Kelly twins were individuals of similar “nature (genetics) and nurture (environment),” and so the perfect space experiment was conceived – featuring “space twin and Earth twin” as the stars. Scott would spend a year in space aboard the International Space Station, while his identical twin brother, Mark, would remain on Earth.

The NASA TWINS Study represents the most comprehensive view of the human body’s response to space flight ever conducted. Results will guide future studies and personalized approaches for evaluating health effects of individual astronauts for years to come.

As a cancer biologist at Colorado State University I study the impact of radiation exposure on human cells. As part of the TWINS Study, I was particularly interested in evaluating how the ends of the chromosomes, called telomeres, were altered by a year in space.

Teasing apart health effects of space living

NASA put out a call and selected 10 peer-reviewed investigations from around the country for the TWINS Study. Studies included molecular, physiological and behavioral measures, and for the first time ever in astronauts, “omics”-based studies. Some teams evaluated the impact of space on the genome – the entire complement of DNA in a cell (genomics). Other teams examined which genes were turned on and producing a molecule called mRNA (transcriptomics). Some studies focused on how chemical modifications – which do not alter the DNA code – affected the regulation of the genes (epigenomics). Some researchers explored the proteins produced in the cells (proteomics), whereas others scrutinized the products of metabolism (metabolomics).

There were also studies examining how the space environment might alter the microbiome – the collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi that live in and on our bodies. One investigation examined the immune response to the flu vaccine. Other teams searched Scott’s biological samples for biomarkers of atherosclerosis and upward fluid shifts in the body due to microgravity, which can affect vision and cause headaches. Cognitive performance was also evaluated using computer-run cognition tests specifically designed for astronauts.

More than 300 biological samples – stool, urine and blood – were collected from the twins at multiple times before, during and after the one year mission.

The Kelly twins are without a doubt one of the most profiled pairs – on or off our planet. They are also one of the most interviewed. One question often asked is whether Scott will return from space younger than Mark – a situation reminiscent of “Interstellar” or Einstein’s so-called “ Twin Paradox .” However, because the ISS is not traveling anywhere near the speed of light relative to us, time dilation – or the slowing of time due to motion – is very minimal. So any age difference between the brothers would only be a few milliseconds.

Even so, the question of spaceflight-associated aging and the accompanying risk of developing age-related diseases like dementia, cardiovascular disease and cancer – during or after a mission – is an important one, and one that we aimed to address directly with our study of telomere length.

Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes that protect them from damage and from “fraying” – much like the end of a shoestring. Telomeres are critical for maintaining chromosome and genome stability. However, telomeres naturally shorten as our cells divide, and so also as we age. The rate at which telomeres shorten over time is influenced by many factors, including oxidative stress and inflammation, nutrition, physical activity, psychological stresses and environmental exposures like air pollution, UV rays and ionizing radiation. Thus, telomere length reflects an individual’s genetics, experiences and exposures, and so are informative indicators of general health and aging.

Telomeres and aging

Our study proposed that the unique stresses and out-of-this-world exposures the astronauts experience during spaceflight – things like isolation, microgravity, high carbon dioxide levels and galactic cosmic rays – would accelerate telomere shortening and aging. To test this, we evaluated telomere length in blood samples received from both twins before, during and after the one year mission.

Scott and Mark started the study with relatively similar telomere lengths, which is consistent with a strong genetic component. Also as expected, the length of Earth-bound Mark’s telomeres was relatively stable over the course of the study. But much to our surprise, Scott’s telomeres were significantly longer at every time point and in every sample tested during spaceflight. That was exactly the opposite of what we expected.

Furthermore, upon Scott’s return to Earth, telomere length shortened rapidly, then stabilized during the following months to near pre-flight averages. However, from the perspective of aging and risk of disease, he had many more short telomeres after spaceflight than he did before. Our challenge now is to figure out how and why such spaceflight specific shifts in telomere length dynamics are occurring.

Our findings will have relevance to earthlings as well, since we all grow old and develop age-related conditions. These TWINS Study results may provide new clues into the processes involved, and thereby improve our understanding of what we might do to avoid them or extend health span.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Tags assigned to this story

• google+ -->

Susan Bailey

Here's why astronauts age slower than the rest of us here on Earth

• Time can appear to move faster or slower to us relative to others in a different part of space-time. 
• That means astronauts on the International Space Station get to age just a tiny bit slower than people on Earth.
• Astronauts on long missions "may be vulnerable to unique stressors that can impact human aging," a study found.

Time feels like one of the only constants in life — it passes day after day at the same pace.

Then Albert Einstein had to go and ruin that for us.

We've all heard the phrase that "time is relative," but it can be difficult to wrap the mind around what that actually means.

The phrase came from Einstein's Theory of Relativity that joined space and time and created the idea of a fabric that permeates the whole universe: "space-time."

We all measure our experience in space-time differently. That's because space-time isn't flat — it's curved, and it can be warped by matter and energy.

So depending on our position and speed, time can appear to move faster or slower to us relative to others in a different part of space-time. And for astronauts on the International Space Station, that means they get to age just a tiny bit slower than people on Earth. 

That's because of time-dilation effects. First, time appears to move slower near massive objects because the object's gravitational force bends space-time.

The phenomenon is called " gravitational time dilation ." In a nutshell it just means time moves slower as gravity increases.

That's why time passes slower for objects closer to the center of the Earth where the gravity is stronger.

That doesn't mean you could spend your life in a basement, just to outlive the rest of us here on the surface. The effect isn't noticeable on such a small scale. If you became a basement hermit, then across your entire lifetime you'd only age a fraction of a second slower than everyone else above ground.

Related stories

But this concept gets pretty crazy when you start thinking about it:

• A watch strapped to your ankle will eventually fall behind one strapped to your wrist.
• Your head technically ages more quickly than your feet.
• Time passes faster for people living on a mountain than those living at sea level.

Time gets even weirder though.

The second factor is something called "relative velocity time dilation" where time moves slower as you move faster.

The classic example of this is the twin scenario. One twin blasts off in a spaceship traveling close to the speed of light, and one twin stays behind on Earth. When the space-traveling twin returns to Earth, she's only aged a couple years, but she's shocked to find that her Earth-bound sister has aged over a decade.

Of course no one has performed that experiment in real life, but there's evidence that it's real. When scientists launched an atomic clock into orbit and back — while keeping an identical clock here on Earth — it returned running ever so slightly behind the Earth-bound clock.

Then time gets even more complicated because gravitational time dilation and relative velocity time dilation can happen at the same time. A good way to think about it is to consider the astronauts living on the International Space Station.

Currently, an international crew of seven live and work aboard the ISS, orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes, according to NASA.

They're floating about 260 miles above, where Earth's gravitational pull is weaker than it is at the surface. That means time should speed up for them relative to people on the ground. But the space station is also whizzing around Earth at about nearly five miles per second.

That means time should also slow down for the astronauts relative to people on the surface.

You'd think that might even out, but actually their velocity time dilation has a bigger effect than their gravitational time dilation, so astronauts end up aging slower than people on Earth.

The difference isn't noticeable though — after spending six months on the ISS, astronauts have aged about 0.005 seconds less than the rest of us.

That means that when former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returned home in 2016 from his history-making, year-long stay on the ISS, he technically was 0.01 second younger than his twin astronaut brother — and now US senator — Mark Kelly who stayed on Earth.

So the next time you find yourself wishing the weekend would last longer, stay low to the ground and move really fast. It won't feel like your weekend got any longer, but technically you may gain a teeny, tiny fraction of a fraction of a second.

Remember, time is relative.

• Main content

• What is NMN
• NMN Benefits
• Human Trials
• Aging & Longevity
• Bone, Muscle & Skin
• Cardiovascular
• Epigenetics
• Kidney, Liver & Lungs
• Neurological
• Reproduction
• Basic Research
• What is NAD

How Does Space Travel Affect Natural Aging?

Changes in the body that come from space travel resemble growing older, providing opportunities to perform aging studies on astronauts.

Growing older can take a serious toll on the body. Bones become brittle, muscle shrinks, the immune system loses strength, and age-related ailments like arthritis can set in. More serious complications like declining cognitive function and heart disease can also take hold as the later years of life progress.

These symptoms can also come from something less common—space travel. Flying through outer space has dramatic effects on the body , and people in space experience aging at a faster rate than people on Earth. Several papers recently published in the Cell family of journals look at the health hazards that spending time in outer space has had on astronauts. These studies showed that space alters gene function, function of the cell’s powerhouse (mitochondria), and the chemical balance in cells.

Hanging Out in Space Mimics Age-Related Disorders

The health effects of spending time in space resemble some age-related disorders, like cancer and osteoporosis. While the similarities of spaceflight to aging give concern for long-term space missions, like a voyage to Mars, the outer space environment also provides an opportunity to study aging processes in the body.

Scientists estimate that the heart, blood vessels, bones, and muscle deteriorate about 10 times faster in space than in natural aging. In other words, scientists don’t need to wait for their biological study subjects to grow older naturally on Earth—with accelerated health effects in space, they can run experiments on astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).

But the effects of space travel are not exactly the same as aging, and many of the changes that occur in space reverse themselves when people return to Earth. The comparisons can still be useful, though, and scientists say time spent in space provides a good model for understanding the chronic process of aging. Maybe outer space living could reveal new methods for protecting ourselves from processes that make us grow old .

The Effects of Space Travel

Space affects different cell types in different ways, according to Michael Roberts, interim chief scientist of the ISS National Laboratory in a report in National Geographic . “It’s not a single acute exposure to toxic agents, for example; it’s something that’s long-term, chronic, and persistent.” Space life changes the body’s equilibrium for optimal functioning, thereby rebooting the way that cells respond.

In the microgravity atmosphere of outer space, the heart, bones, and muscle don’t need to work as hard as they do on Earth, so they weaken from disuse . Fluid-filled tissues may change shape because liquid flows differently in microgravity, which can change the shapes of organs like the brain. Not only that but higher background radiation outside of Earth’s atmosphere can cause DNA damage and increase cancer risk.

An Astronaut Twin Study

The new research on the health effects of outer space living started with a study on astronaut twin brothers, Scott and Mark Kelly . Ten research teams monitored changes in Scott’s body during his year-long trip to space. The scientists then compared the changes to Scott’s identical twin brother Mark who stayed on Earth during that time. The research teams recorded differences in the twin astronauts ranging from changes in gene expression profiles, microorganisms in the gut (the microbiome), cognitive abilities, and cardiovascular systems.

A striking discovery from the NASA Twins Study was that Scott’s telomeres changed length. Telomeres are regions of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect the rest of the DNA from damage, decay, and fraying. Telomere lengths diminish with age and how quickly they shorten is an important indicator of health and aging.

While Scott was in Space, his telomeres lengthened, but when he returned to Earth, they rapidly shrunk. Although his telomeres were longer during spaceflight, he ended up with shorter telomeres than he started with. Shortened telomeres have been linked to cardiovascular disease while longer telomeres are associated with cancer. So, either of these changes in telomere length can have negative health consequences.

Some of the health effects of spaceflight seem to equilibrate after a certain amount of time in space like decreased blood volume and changes in the lungs and heart. Astronauts haven’t spent enough time on the ISS to say with any certainty whether these changes in the body will reach a steady-state, though.

A Cosmic Opportunity

Thanks to the unique environment that comes from space travel, researchers can now look for creative ways to boost human health. Many health-promoting therapies have come from scientists’ efforts to boost humans’ adaptation to space, like obtaining protein from near-indestructible microorganisms called tardigrades, which could also address aging-related diseases that plague humanity. 

Related Articles

• Subscribe to BBC Science Focus Magazine
• Previous Issues
• Future tech
• Everyday science
• Planet Earth
• Newsletters

Everything you need to know about space travel (almost)

We're a long way from home...

Paul Parsons

When did we first start exploring space?

The first human-made object to go into space was a German V2 missile , launched on a test flight in 1942. Although uncrewed, it reached an altitude of 189km (117 miles).

Former Nazi rocket scientists were later recruited by both America and Russia (often at gunpoint in the latter case), where they were instrumental in developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) – rockets capable of carrying nuclear weapons from one side of the planet to the other.

It was these super-missiles that formed the basis for the space programmes of both post-war superpowers. As it happened, Russia was the first to reach Earth orbit, when it launched the uncrewed Sputnik 1 in October 1957, followed a month later by Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika – the first live animal in space.

The USA sent its first uncrewed satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit soon after, in January 1958. A slew of robotic spaceflights followed, from both sides of the Atlantic, before Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin piloted Vostok 1 into orbit on 12 April 1961, to become the first human being in space . And from there the space race proper began, culminating in Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first people to walk on the Moon as part of NASA's Apollo programme .

Why is space travel important?

Space exploration is the future. It satisfies the human urge to explore and to travel, and in the years and decades to come it could even provide our species with new places to call home – especially relevant now, as Earth becomes increasingly crowded .

Extending our reach into space is also necessary for the advancement of science. Space telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope and probes to the distant worlds of the Solar System are continually updating, and occasionally revolutionising, our understanding of astronomy and physics.

• Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast , iTunes , Stitcher , RSS , Overcast

But there are also some very practical reasons, such as mining asteroids for materials that are extremely rare here on Earth.

One example is the huge reserve of the chemical isotope helium-3 thought to be locked away in the soil on the surface of the Moon . This isotope is a potential fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors – power stations that tap into the same source of energy as the Sun. Unlike other fusion fuels, helium-3 gives off no hard-to-contain and deadly neutron radiation.

However, for this to happen the first challenge to overcome is how to build a base on the Moon. In 2019, China's Chang’e 4 mission marked the beginning of a new space race to conquer the Moon, signalling their intent to build a permanent lunar base , while the NASA Artemis mission plans to build a space station, called Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway , providing a platform to ferry astronauts to the Moon's surface.

Could humans travel into interstellar space and how would we get there?

It’s entirely feasible that human explorers will visit the furthest reaches of our Solar System. The stars, however, are another matter. Interstellar space is so vast that it takes light – the fastest thing we know of in the Universe – years, centuries and millennia to traverse it. Faster-than-light travel may be possible one day, but is unlikely to become a reality in our lifetimes.

It’s not impossible that humans might one day cross this cosmic gulf, though it won’t be easy. The combustion-powered rocket engines of today certainly aren’t up to the job – they just don’t use fuel efficiently enough. Instead, interstellar spacecraft may create a rocket-like propulsion jet using electric and magnetic fields. This so-called ‘ ion drive ’ technology has already been tested aboard uncrewed Solar System probes.

Another possibility is to push spacecraft off towards the stars using the light from a high-powered laser . A consortium of scientists calling themselves Breakthrough Starshot is already planning to send a flotilla of tiny robotic probes to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, using just this method.

Though whether human astronauts could survive such punishing acceleration, or the decades-long journey through deep space, remains to be seen.

How do we benefit from space exploration?

Pushing forward the frontiers of science is the stated goal of many space missions . But even the development of space travel technology itself can lead to unintended yet beneficial ‘spin-off’ technologies with some very down-to-earth applications.

Notable spin-offs from the US space programme, NASA, include memory foam mattresses, artificial hearts, and the lubricant spray WD-40. Doubtless, there are many more to come.

Read more about space exploration:

• The next giant leaps: The UK missions getting us to the Moon
• Move over, Mars: why we should look further afield for future human colonies
• Everything you need to know about the Voyager mission
• 6 out-of-this-world experiments recreating space on Earth

Space exploration also instils a sense of wonder, it reminds us that there are issues beyond our humdrum planet and its petty squabbles, and without doubt it helps to inspire each new generation of young scientists. It’s also an insurance policy. We’re now all too aware that global calamities can and do happen – for instance, climate change and the giant asteroid that smashed into the Earth 65 million years ago, leading to the total extinction of the dinosaurs .

The lesson for the human species is that we keep all our eggs in one basket at our peril. On the other hand, a healthy space programme, and the means to travel to other worlds, gives us an out.

Is space travel dangerous?

In short, yes – very. Reaching orbit means accelerating up to around 28,000kph (17,000mph, or 22 times the speed of sound ). If anything goes wrong at that speed, it’s seldom good news.

Then there’s the growing cloud of space junk to contend with in Earth's orbit – defunct satellites, discarded rocket stages and other detritus – all moving just as fast. A five-gram bolt hitting at orbital speed packs as much energy as a 200kg weight dropped from the top of an 18-storey building.

And getting to space is just the start of the danger. The principal hazard once there is cancer-producing radiation – the typical dose from one day in space is equivalent to what you’d receive over an entire year back on Earth, thanks to the planet’s atmosphere and protective magnetic field.

Add to that the icy cold airless vacuum , the need to bring all your own food and water, plus the effects of long-duration weightlessness on bone density, the brain and muscular condition – including that of the heart – and it soon becomes clear that venturing into space really isn’t for the faint-hearted.

When will space travel be available to everyone?

It’s already happening – that is, assuming your pockets are deep enough. The first self-funded ‘space tourist’ was US businessman Dennis Tito, who in 2001 spent a week aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the cool sum of $20m (£15m).

Virgin Galactic has long been promising to take customers on short sub-orbital hops into space – where passengers get to experience rocket propulsion and several minutes of weightlessness, before gliding back to a runway landing on Earth, all for $250k (£190k). In late July 2020, the company unveiled the finished cabin in its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, suggesting that commercial spaceflights may begin shortly.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX , which in May 2020 became the first private company to launch a human crew to Earth orbit aboard the Crew Dragon , plans to offer stays on the ISS for $35k (£27k) per night. SpaceX is now prototyping its huge Starship vehicle , which is designed to take 100 passengers from Earth to as far afield as Mars for around $20k (£15k) per head. Musk stated in January that he hoped to be operating 1,000 Starships by 2050.

10 Short Lessons in Space Travel by Paul Parsons is out now (£9.99, Michael O'Mara)

• Buy now from Amazon UK , Foyles , WH Smith and Wordery

Share this article

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy policy
• Cookies policy
• Code of conduct
• Magazine subscriptions
• Manage preferences

The New Space Age

Humanity is looking once again to the heavens, ushering in a significant period of space exploration.

The rockets get most of the attention. Big and powerful and full of fiery thrust, the Space Launch System rocket NASA wants to use to propel astronauts into moon orbit is a monster, taller than the Statue of Liberty. As is SpaceX’s Starship, which NASA plans to use to ferry the astronauts to the lunar surface and back.

But those rockets represent only one element of the grand ambitions possessed by the United States, international space agencies and the many private companies that have set their sights on space over the past two decades. There are efforts underway to make space tourism accessible for the masses. There are hopes of one day having the infrastructure and technology to form permanent colonies in deep space. And there is a plan to finally put a woman and person of color on the moon.

Space travel is booming, creating an energy around the exploration of our solar system that hasn’t been seen since the days of Apollo — and leading to no shortage of questions. Why does NASA want to go back to the moon? What toll does space travel take on the human body? And what are the consequences of the increasing amount of space debris littering the atmosphere?

The New Space Age will seek to answer those questions, and many more, with a comprehensive look at this significant moment in the history of human spaceflight.

The moon beckons once again, and this time NASA wants to stay

Why are we going back to the moon? To research, to practice and to build a gas station in space.

The many, many reasons space travel is bad for the human body

Humans evolved in conditions of plentiful gravity and relatively scant radiation. Space is the reverse — and it upends almost every system inside of us.

Space Dodgers! An interactive game about a real-world problem.

Can you navigate the debris field in orbit? It’s a worsening problem in real life.

A woman on the moon: How has one small step taken so long?

As columnist Monica Hesse writes, the question has had more to do with culture and sociology than it has science and technology.

How to prepare for space travel

Lunar relations: the u.s., china and a new brand of space race.

NASA is hopeful that a new international coalition will help propel its return to the moon.

Inside the rockets that NASA and SpaceX plan to take to the moon

In the way they are manufactured, financed and designed to work, NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship represent very different approaches.

This astronaut trains by flying fighter jets. We went along for the ride.

Jared Isaacman, who commissioned a private astronaut flight to orbit last year, has purchased three more trips from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The sci-fi works that helped inspire spaceflight

Why scientists and officials are taking ufos more seriously.

At a time when our knowledge of the universe is expanding, many scientists and government officials are paying more attention to the objects we haven’t been able to identify.

About this project

This section examines the significance of this current period of space exploration, including the boom of the private space industry, the ambitions of NASA and foreign space agencies, and the potential consequences for society.

Topper image provided by NASA, ESA, SCA, STSCI. Illustrations by Brian Monroe, Ibrahim Rayintakath, Elizabeth von Oehsen, Christina Chung, and Jose Berrio. Graphics by William Neff and Aaron Steckelberg with editing by Kate Rabinowitz and Manuel Canales. Video by Daron Taylor, Tom LeGro, Monica Rodman, Sarah Hashemi and James Cornsilk. Photography by Jonathan Newton.

Art direction, design, development and photo editing by Betty Chavarria. Editing by Jeff Dooley, Betty Chavarria, Wayne Lockwood and Elizabeth McGehee.

Suggested Searches

• Climate Change
• Expedition 64
• Mars perseverance
• SpaceX Crew-2
• International Space Station
• View All Topics A-Z

Humans in Space

Earth & climate, the solar system, the universe, aeronautics, learning resources, news & events.

NASA’s PACE Data on Ocean, Atmosphere, Climate Now Available

Altitude Chamber Gets Upgrade for Artemis II, Spacecraft Testing Begins 

NASA Next-Generation Solar Sail Boom Technology Ready for Launch

• Search All NASA Missions
• A to Z List of Missions
• Upcoming Launches and Landings
• Spaceships and Rockets
• Communicating with Missions
• James Webb Space Telescope
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Why Go to Space
• Astronauts Home
• Commercial Space
• Destinations

Living in Space

• Explore Earth Science
• Earth, Our Planet
• Earth Science in Action
• Earth Multimedia
• Earth Science Researchers
• Pluto & Dwarf Planets
• Asteroids, Comets & Meteors
• The Kuiper Belt
• The Oort Cloud
• Skywatching
• The Search for Life in the Universe
• Black Holes
• The Big Bang
• Dark Energy & Dark Matter
• Earth Science
• Planetary Science
• Astrophysics & Space Science
• The Sun & Heliophysics
• Biological & Physical Sciences
• Lunar Science
• Citizen Science
• Astromaterials
• Aeronautics Research
• Human Space Travel Research
• Science in the Air
• NASA Aircraft
• Flight Innovation
• Supersonic Flight
• Air Traffic Solutions
• Green Aviation Tech
• Drones & You
• Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
• Space Travel Technology
• Technology Living in Space
• Manufacturing and Materials
• Science Instruments
• For Kids and Students
• For Educators
• For Colleges and Universities
• For Professionals
• Science for Everyone
• Requests for Exhibits, Artifacts, or Speakers
• STEM Engagement at NASA
• NASA's Impacts
• Centers and Facilities
• Directorates
• Organizations
• People of NASA
• Internships
• Our History
• Doing Business with NASA
• Get Involved
• Aeronáutica
• Ciencias Terrestres
• Sistema Solar
• All NASA News
• Video Series on NASA+
• Newsletters
• Social Media
• Media Resources
• Upcoming Launches & Landings
• Virtual Events
• Sounds and Ringtones
• Interactives
• STEM Multimedia

The April 8 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Mission Overview

Hubble Spots a Galaxy Hidden in a Dark Cloud

NASA Shares Medical Expertise with New Space Station Partners

From NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience

The Ocean Touches Everything: Celebrate Earth Day with NASA

Earth Day Poster 2024

Media Get Close-Up of NASA’s Jupiter-Bound Europa Clipper

More Than 36,000 Volunteers Helped Do NASA Eclipse Science

NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations

NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge

Earth Day 2024: Posters and Virtual Backgrounds

NASA Langley Team to Study Weather During Eclipse Using Uncrewed Vehicles

ARMD Solicitations

NASA Noise Prediction Tool Supports Users in Air Taxi Industry

Tech Today: Folding NASA Experience into an Origami Toolkit 

NASA’s SERT II: ‘A Genuine Space Success Story’

NASA Partnerships Bring 2024 Total Solar Eclipse to Everyone

Shawnta M. Ball Turns Obstacles into Opportunities in Goddard’s Education Office

A Langley Intern Traveled 1,340 Miles to View a Total Solar Eclipse. Here’s What She Saw.

La presentación del X-59 de la NASA personifica la tradición aeronáutica

Scientists probe how long-term spaceflight alters immunity.

Nathan Cranford

Jennifer Turner

On Earth, a human body with a properly functioning immune system will work to overcome an infection. But in space, that same immune system will have to work a bit harder to overcome the same infection. In the isolated environment of the International Space Station , many factors — physiological stress, disrupted circadian rhythms, radiation, microgravity, and other spaceflight factors — can alter an astronaut’s immune response. 

As NASA prepares astronauts to head to the Moon and Mars, scientists tasked with ensuring astronaut safety want to know: How will long-duration spaceflight missions change immune responses, and will these changes be significant enough to influence crew health risks and mission success? 

To learn more, NASA’s Human Research Program, or HRP , consults Dr. Brian Crucian, lead scientist for the agency’s immunology research. Building on previous studies, Crucian is now overseeing an investigation into the specific biological pathways through which the immune system reacts during spaceflight.

“The immune system isn’t immune to the changes astronauts undergo in space,” noted Crucian. “So we really want to know the clinical risks for exploration-class, deep-space missions. And once we know these risks, we can help develop strategies to lessen them.”

The immune system is a network of hormones, cells, and organs that protects our bodies from microbes and other pathogens that can make us ill. It also regulates and coordinates with many of the body’s other systems. Space, however, can throw this network off balance. For example, previous studies suggest that in some astronauts, white blood cells — the cells that fight off infection — aren’t always as efficient in protecting the body as they are on Earth. This can cause inactive viruses we carry in our bodies, such as the virus that causes shingles, to reawaken in astronauts. An astronaut experiencing a reactivation of a latent virus could become sick and potentially pass that live virus to other crew members. 

“Generally, astronauts exhibit minor or no symptoms from latent virus reactivation,” Crucian added. “But we don’t know what could happen as missions stretch into deep space, where all the stressors increase, and our ability to provide care will be harder. We – the flight surgeons and biomedical scientists – want to be prepared.”

Consequently, Crucian and his team are examining blood, saliva, and urine samples provided by astronauts. Since 2016, they’ve scrutinized samples from 10 astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. These astronauts were each on the space station for an average of six months.

“In the past, we only had access to post-flight blood samples,” Crucian said. “They showed us some interesting changes to the immune system, but we didn’t know if these changes were due to the stresses of landing and re-adaptation.” Now, however, researchers can receive room-temperature blood samples from the station within 37 hours.

The sample-delivery process for blood works like this: Astronauts collect their blood samples right before the undocking of a returning cargo ship that transports supplies to and from the space station. The blood is transported in an insulated and cushioned package that protects it from the forces of landing. Once the cargo ship lands, blood samples are flown to Crucian and his team for analysis. Urine and saliva samples are also collected during flight and returned to Earth.

The researchers examine the samples for markers of immune system health. For example, blood samples contain a particular class of proteins called cytokines, which help regulate immune responses. Specific stress hormones found in urine reveal how hard the immune system is working at a given moment. Viruses, if reactivated, can be found in saliva and urine samples. The abundance of viruses, hormones, cytokines, and other indicators found in different samples can help the team piece together how the strength of the tested astronaut’s immune system varies through time.

To better understand how the immune system changes in space, the researchers also recruited a ground-based control group that had never been exposed to the stresses of spaceflight. While astronauts were in space, 10 civilians of the same age and gender as the astronauts provided blood, urine, and saliva samples for six months. These samples offer a baseline level for immune responses, which are now being compared with immune responses from the astronauts. The investigation is expected to finish by the end of 2021.

Results of the study will help determine whether certain countermeasures, such as immune boosters, will be needed on missions to the Moon and Mars. On Earth, techniques used in the study could help monitor immune responses in cancer patients and others with compromised immune systems.

NASA’s  Human Research Program , or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s  quest  to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Explore More

On April 8, 2024, the Moon’s shadow swept across North America, treating millions to a…

Discover More Topics From NASA

Human Research Program

Space Station Research and Technology

Local News X

21 Annoying Things You Should Never Do On A Flight

Posted: April 12, 2024 | Last updated: April 12, 2024

Flying is a shared experience, a blend of anticipation and routine, where passengers converge in the confined space of an aircraft. While air travel etiquette is understood by many, a handful of travelers often disregard these unspoken norms, engaging in behaviors that can detract from the overall comfort and enjoyment of the journey for others. From reclining seats without warning to misusing the overhead bins, these discourteous habits highlight the importance of mindfulness and respect in ensuring a pleasant flight for everyone.

Here are 21 annoying and rude things that should be avoided while flying.

Bringing Smelly Food on Board

Eating strong smelling foods in a confined space like an airplane is unpleasant for everyone on board. Opting for less aromatic food items respects the shared air space. Consider eating before boarding or selecting neutral smelling snacks for the flight.

Misusing the Overhead Bins

Placing personal items or taking up more than your fair share of bin space can inconvenience others or even delay the scheduled take off time. Being considerate with your luggage, using space efficiently, and following crew instructions helps everyone have access to the storage they need. Cooperation and courtesy make the boarding process smoother for all.

Boarding Before Your Group Is Called

While this might be tempting to ensure you get overhead bin space, this action creates unnecessary delays and confusion during the boarding process. Waiting for your designated group respects the system set up to ensure an orderly boarding. Patience and adherence to boarding protocols contribute to a smoother start to the flight.

Reclining Your Seat Suddenly

Quickly reclining your seat can startle the person behind you and potentially harm their laptop or spill their drink. It’s courteous to glance back and recline slowly. This consideration can prevent conflicts and ensure a peaceful flight for everyone.

Constantly Getting Up

Frequently moving in and out of your seat, especially if seated by the window, disrupts the comfort of those in your row. Planning bathroom visits around meal times and stretching periods can minimize disturbances. Being mindful of your seatmates’ comfort will make the journey more pleasant for everyone involved.

Using Bright Screens in a Dark Cabin

The glare from screens in a dimmed cabin can be a significant annoyance to others trying to sleep. Dimming your screen or using a blue light filter can help mitigate this issue. Consideration for others’ need to rest enhances the shared travel experience.

Hogging the Armrests

Taking over both armrests leaves your seatmates with nowhere to rest their arms, leading to discomfort and irritation. Sharing armrest space fairly, especially on long flights, is key to maintaining good relations with fellow passengers. A general rule is that the middle seat gets priority for armrests due to their limited space.

Ignoring Personal Hygiene

Neglecting personal hygiene can make the confined space of an airplane uncomfortable for those seated nearby. Wearing clean clothes and using deodorant can make the journey more pleasant for everyone. Consideration for others’ comfort is essential in such close quarters.

Boarding With a Backpack On

Navigating the airplane’s narrow aisle with a backpack strapped on can turn unsuspecting passengers into unwitting participants in an obstacle course, as they dodge unexpected swings and bumps. While perhaps unintended, this action can sour the mood, making it a faux pas in the unwritten etiquette of flight. By clutching the backpack in front, passengers can transform a potential aisle of hazards into a smooth runway, ensuring a harmonious coexistence between those seated and those passing by. null null

Drinking Excessively

Alcohol can impair judgment and lead to behavior that disrupts the comfort and safety of others on the flight. Moderation is key, and respecting the flight crew’s guidance on alcohol consumption ensures a harmonious journey. Responsible drinking can prevent unnecessary disturbances and ensure everyone’s well-being.

Kicking or Pushing the Seat in Front of You

This behavior can cause continuous discomfort and frustration for the person in front of you. Being mindful of your movements and avoiding unnecessary force against the seat preserves the peace. A little empathy goes a long way in ensuring a comfortable flight for everyone.

Letting Children Misbehave

Unchecked noisy or disruptive behavior from children can strain the patience of other passengers. It’s important for guardians to prepare with activities and snacks to keep children engaged and calm. Setting boundaries and providing gentle guidance can help minimize disruptions.

Taking Off Shoes and Socks

Taking off your shoes can release odors and make fellow passengers uncomfortable. If you need to remove your shoes, keeping your socks on and ensuring your feet are clean can mitigate any discomfort for others. Respect for shared spaces includes maintaining personal cleanliness.

Talking to Someone Who Doesn’t Want to Chat

Not everyone is open to conversation during a flight, preferring to rest or work instead. Recognizing and respecting these social cues ensures that all passengers can enjoy their journey as they wish. A polite introduction can gauge interest in conversation without imposing.

Leaving a Mess Behind

Discarding trash, leaving crumbs, or spilling drinks without cleaning up shows a lack of consideration for the crew and the next passengers. Using the provided trash bags and tidying your area before deplaning demonstrates respect for those who work to keep the cabin clean. A clean seat area contributes to a pleasant environment for everyone.

Ignoring Personal Boundaries

Encroaching on another’s space, whether through physical presence or with belongings, can lead to discomfort. Awareness of your personal space and ensuring your items do not overflow into others’ areas fosters a respectful environment.

Speaking loudly, laughing boisterously, or playing media without headphones can disrupt those seeking a quiet environment to rest or work. Using a moderate volume and headphones for personal devices is respectful to others’ space. Remember, sound travels easily in the cabin, affecting many passengers.

Talking On The Phone

This action is generally seen as rude due to the confined space, where passengers are in close proximity and unable to escape the conversation. The constant sound of one-sided conversations disrupts the quiet environment, making it difficult for others to relax or concentrate on their activities. Additionally, the lack of privacy in these conversations often forces everyone nearby to inadvertently eavesdrop, leading to discomfort and frustration among fellow travelers. null null

Ignoring Flight Attendant Instructions

Flight attendants provide safety instructions and guidelines to protect all passengers on board. Disregarding their directions can compromise safety and disrupt the flight experience for others. Compliance with crew instructions is not only a matter of respect but also a requirement for safety.

Crowding the Aisle Before Your Turn

Rushing to stand in the aisle as soon as the plane lands creates unnecessary congestion and delays the deboarding process. Waiting patiently for your turn to deboard demonstrates respect for the crew and fellow passengers. Efficient deboarding relies on everyone cooperating and following the crew’s instructions.

Not Using Headphones

Forcing others to listen to your music, games, or videos is inconsiderate and can be avoided by using headphones. Keeping the volume at a level that only you can hear ensures that everyone’s personal space is respected. This simple act of courtesy makes the travel experience better for everyone.

While flying, respect and consideration for our fellow travelers can transform the journey into a harmonious experience. By adhering to simple etiquette and being mindful of the shared space, we can mitigate the impact of those few disruptive behaviors, ensuring that air travel remains a marvel of modern convenience and connectivity. Ultimately, it’s the collective effort of all passengers to foster a courteous and pleasant atmosphere that makes the skies friendlier for everyone.

What To Read Next

• This Genius Trick Every Online Shopper Should Know
• Best High-Yield Savings Accounts This Month
• Best Gold IRA This Year
• Deals On Popular Cruises
• The Best Internet Deals For Seniors
• Affordable Life Insurance Options for Seniors

For the Latest Breaking Local News, Headlines & Videos, head to Local News X

More for You

Venezuela Confirms Meeting with US, Says Qatar Deal Breached

A major Burger King franchisee in California says he can't roll out order kiosks fast enough due to the state's new $20 fast-food minimum wage

Fred Couples drops a Masters bomb on Greg Norman, LIV Golf amid ticket snafu

Decades-old military object washes up on Massachusetts beach

Krispy Kreme Has a New Partnership with Your Favorite Candy Brand

The Coolest Car From the Year You Were Born (1945-1995)

Leonard Leo won't comply with Senate subpoena in Supreme Court ethics probe

"None of them dudes wanted no smoke with Derrick Rose" - Rip Hamilton says superstars were scared of a prime Derrick Rose

Explained: What The Boeing Whistleblower Claims Is Wrong With The 787 Dreamliner And 777

35 Things About "American Schools" That Are Completely Normal To Americans And Incredibly Weird To Non-Americans

13 McDonald's Menu Items From The 1990s You Probably Forgot About

Ron DeSantis takes on Target, and Walmart, over retail theft

Tech Giant With 30,000 Employees Has No Return-to-Office Policy

Duke loses second star underclassman one hour after teammate declares for NBA Draft

Excellent used cars to buy today from just $1500

Disneyland clamps down on visitors who pretend to be disabled to jump queues

I Blind-Tasted 9 Ketchup Brands—and the Winner Will Surprise You

New York county loses bid to prevent state legal challenge of its ban on female transgender athletes

Dow tumbles 475 points, S&P 500 suffers worst day since January as inflation woes erupt

Barehanded Backflip Catch in Banana Ball by D.R. Meadows

The 2024 total solar eclipse is 1 week away. Here's what you need to know.

We're ready, are you? The countdown to the total solar eclipse has begun!

Last minute preparations

Eclipse weather.

There's only one week left until the total solar eclipse 2024 is visible across North America! Are you ready? 

Memories will be made when the moon crosses in front of the sun and turns the daytime sky dark. The total solar eclipse will travel through Mexico, 15 U.S. States and Canada and will be one of the most-watched eclipses ever. You can view the entire path of totality including start and end times for different stages of the solar ellipse at each location in this helpful interactive map from NASA . 

If you cannot watch the eclipse in person you can watch the total solar eclipse live here on Space.com courtesy of NASA. Coverage will begin at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) . You can also keep up with all the actions with our total solar eclipse 2024 live updates blog.

And if you capture a great photo of the solar eclipse and would like to share it with us and our readers, please email it to [email protected] .  

Related: Solar eclipse viewing through history: A roundup of some of the best photos  

Our how to read and understand a solar eclipse map will help you get the most out of your eclipse viewing venture!

By now you've most likely decided on a viewing location and have all the supplies needed for a successful eclipse viewing experience (don't forget those eclipse glasses !). 

But if you're still scrambling for some solar-safe viewing equipment and haven't been able to get hold of a pair of eclipse glasses don't worry, we've got some alternative ways to view the eclipse with items from around the home . 

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

If you're looking for a way to entertain the little ones before, during and after the eclipse we've got a great guide on how to organize an eclipse event for kids . 

As we get closer to April 8, more reliable meteorological weather forecasts will become available. NOAA's Weather Prediction Center is a great place to find increasingly reliable forecasts, which can help you decide on a viewing location where the probability of cloud cover is low. While we are all wishing for clear skies, we can't help but wonder how clouds could impact the viewing experience. It turns out a cloudy forecast might not be as bad as you would initially think, as it all depends on the type, thickness and extent of the cloud cover. You can read more about what happens if it's cloudy during the eclipse and how to give yourself the best chance of clear skies in our helpful guides 

With so many people flocking to watch the eclipse safety is the top priority. Here we've compiled a couple of guides on How to stay safe during the eclipse and also how to avoid getting stuck in traffic on the big day.

Everyone observing the partial phases of this eclipse — and for those outside the path of totality, that's the entire event — will need to wear solar eclipse glasses while cameras, telescopes and binoculars will need solar filters placed in front of their lenses. 

Only those in the path of totality will be able to remove them briefly to see the sun's corona with their naked eyes. Those not in the path of totality must keep them on the entire time. Our how to observe the sun safely guide tells you everything you need to know about safe solar observations.

Solar eclipse glasses are crucial for most to safely observe the eclipse, but with such high demand for the vital piece of kit, fake eclipse glasses are rife. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is warning people about the risks of counterfeit and knock-off solar glasses so we have come up with a guide to how to check yours are safe . 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Daisy Dobrijevic joined Space.com in February 2022 having previously worked for our sister publication All About Space magazine as a staff writer. Before joining us, Daisy completed an editorial internship with the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and worked at the National Space Centre in Leicester, U.K., where she enjoyed communicating space science to the public. In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K. Daisy is passionate about all things space, with a penchant for solar activity and space weather. She has a strong interest in astrotourism and loves nothing more than a good northern lights chase! 

No, you didn't see a solar flare during the total eclipse — but you may have seen something just as special

My formal 2024 solar eclipse apology

SpaceX Starship will be 500 feet tall to prepare for Mars missions, Elon Musk says (video)

Most Popular

• 2 ULA chronicles the rise of Vulcan rocket in new employee-drawn comic book
• 3 Watch an exclusive clip from the CNN' 'Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight' finale (video)
• 4 'Fly Me to the Moon' trailer mixes real-life Apollo history with moon landing hoax
• 5 HALO Space unveils capsule design for stratospheric space 'glamping'

See the Total Solar Eclipse’s Shadow From Space

Satellite images from NASA and NOAA showed the moon’s shadow moving across North America.

By K.K. Rebecca Lai and William B. Davis

PATH OF TOTALITY

UNITED STATES

• Share full article

Advertisement

Money: How to earn thousands letting stars like Stormzy and David Attenborough film in your house

Weekend Money has spoken to people who've made serious cash letting film and music stars shoot in their home. You can read this and our other weekend features, and leave a comment, below - and check back on Monday for hourly updates on consumer and personal finance news.

Saturday 13 April 2024 10:14, UK

Weekend Money

• How to earn thousands letting film and music stars shoot in your home
• Prepayment meters now have cheapest default tariff - should you switch?
• 'It's cost me £8,000 to get out of an abusive relationship' - Readers respond to divorce story
• Money news of week: Blow for expats in Spain | Where will Labour get money from? | Shell could quit London

Best of the week

• How your neighbour's garden could wipe up to £57,000 from your house price
• Could I build a home gym for less than my gym membership?
• Britons are buying homes, having babies, getting married and retiring later - but one key life event is happening earlier
• 'WTF is going on with the price of olive oil?'
• Cheap Eats: Great British Menu legend shares ultimate toastie recipe
• Money Problem: The monthly charge on my leasehold flat has gone up by more than £60 a month - what are my rights?

Ask a question or make a comment

By Brad Young, Money team

Earning up to £60,000 a year for letting Stormzy film a music video in your kitchen or Paloma Faith play with Lego in the living room might sound farfetched to homeowners unfamiliar with the shoot locations industry. 

But every star, studio or big brand that wants to film in a residential property needs someone willing to offer up their home for the day - and they'll pay between £700 and £3,000 for the privilege.

Homeowners and shooting agencies have spoken with the Money team about the promises and pitfalls of working with the likes of Disney, Netflix and ITV to take advantage of this niche income stream. 

Among them was Ed Reeve, a photographer from Hackney, who has had stars such as David Attenborough, Stormzy and Jim Broadbent walk through his doors in the 17 years he's been renting out his home. 

"It has been a really positive experience on the whole for us. Generally, the shoot crews are really lovely people and they're very respectful of your home," said Mr Reeve, who is registered with location agency 1st Option.

He hosts between 12 and 20 productions a year. Most bring in £1,000 for a one-day shoot, but some earn him up to £3,000 per day or last multiple days.

"We've met lots of interesting people," said Mr Reeve, including Gillian Anderson, who stars in Sex Education, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Claire Foy (The Crown).

After Stormzy filmed a music video, Mr Reeves said that "every grime artist wanted to shoot here".

David Attenborough once turned up early for a BBC shoot, resulting in the pair sitting down for a cup of tea and Mr Reeve introducing his three-day old daughter to the presenter.

"He held her and looked at her with delight... it was a really special moment," said Mr Reeve. 

Shoots can result in scratches around the interior, but Mr Reeve said he uses some of the money to redecorate – or in one case, let a Delux advert do it for him. 

'It's never free money'

Less enthusiastic about the industry was Emer Stamp, 48, a children's author from London, who has hosted for two years.

"You think, 'Oh yeah, my house is going to be rocking', and everyone comes round and goes 'Your house will be perfect', but for whatever reason, it's not.

"My takeout is it's not as easy to make money as you think."

Ms Stamp said her home had been chosen for three productions, including a Dell shoot and a Lego advert starring Paloma Faith, earning her approximately £6,000. 

Hosting also puts your schedule at the mercy of production companies – and sometimes they may not show up, said Ms Stamp.

"Like anything, you think it's free money but it's never free money."

So what does make a location popular? 

Becky Butler, managing director at agency Location Collective, said there is demand for average-sized family homes with a 60s/70s vibe and unusual features. 

And while a lot of the homes listed by location agencies look expensive, that was far from a deal-breaker. 

"All the practical side of things are as important, if not more so, than the aesthetics of the location," said Ms Butler.

Parking, easy-going neighbours and having one large room for equipment goes a long way with clients.

Getting the combination right can create "a fantastic additional income stream", said Jennifer Marshall, of Shootfactory, which has connected homeowners with everyone from Little Mix to Killing Eve. 

"We have properties that through our company have earned anywhere between £20,000 and £60,000 a year."

Much of the industry is based in London but, between them, the three agencies contacted by the Money team have organised filming in Manchester, Birmingham, the Midlands, the Home Counties and coastal areas.

Both Ms Marshall and the team at Location Collective said having a neighbour willing to get in on the action can be a real selling point.

This might mean a second house on the same street for a TV show, or simply somewhere to house the production team.

"Being able to let them pretty much take over is quite key. Sometimes they might have demands like painting or moving furniture," said Lily Gonnissen, head of business development at Location Collective. 

Being quick to respond to questions, contactable during the working day, and able to accommodate viewings at short notice was a top priority, said Ms Gonnissen. 

"Be friendly and welcoming - brands remember a good owner," said a spokesperson for 1st Option: "And make sure the house is clean and clutter free before any shoots."

The default tariff for prepayment meters is now cheaper than other types of meter.

It follows the energy price cap update to unit rates and standing charges from 1 April.

Uswitch data shows 56% of households don't know about the change.

What do you need to know?

Prepayment meters have traditionally been a more expensive way of paying for energy - but now prepayment standing charges have been lowered to match those for direct debit customers.

Because prepay units are cheaper, people with these meters should pay around £47 less a year than those on direct debits (£1,643 versus £1,690).

Customers who pay when they get a bill are forking out the most - around 5.8p more per day on the standing charge than those with direct debits.

Should we all get prepayment meters?

As energy costs come down, suppliers like EDF Energy have now started offering fixed deals lower than the price cap - and as things stand these are the cheapest options for many.

Eon Next's Pledge tariff promises to be 3% below whatever the price cap is for a year.

There can be catches if you want to leave these fixed deals (though Octopus doesn't charge them) - so make sure you do your research.

How many people have prepay meters?

The number of prepayment meters has fallen almost 8% from the peak in 2019, but there's still more than seven million gas and electricity units in action.

In total, 195,503 prepayment meters were installed in 2023.

Are people swapping?

Uswitch has some research that says young people (18 to 34) are far more likely to go for prepay meters - 51% would consider it, compared with 5% of over-55s.

Will Owen, energy expert at Uswitch, said: "Prepayment meters have got a bad reputation among some households, but changes to the price cap mean that their default tariffs are now cheaper than standard credit meters.

"With prepayment meters, you pay for your energy before you use it, and while there are emergency provisions, it does mean it is possible to be cut off if you have not put enough money into your account. 

"This means that younger consumers and vulnerable people are at greater risk of disconnecting themselves from their energy supply when money is tight.

"Direct debits also allow consumers to spread out their costs evenly throughout the year, meaning bills won't rise significantly in the winter when energy usage is highest."

We've had a mixed mailbag of comments this week - with readers getting in touch about pensions, tipping and divorce among other things.

Following this feature on divorce costs last weekend...

...we had dozens of comments...

So many people must be trapped in abusive relationships. A loan has helped me get away - covering legal costs, paying the bills/mortgage on marital home whilst being unable to stay and finding thousands for a rental. Costs so far about £8k - only one year in and at decree nisi. H

Since broken families are ever more common why isn't the government doing something to help divorcees get back on the housing ladder like first-time buyers are? Countless thousands, despite having the income, are doomed to rent expensive family homes. Men especially! Twice Divorced Of Surrey

Trust me, it costs a whole lot more than £30k, stay away from solicitors, work through it yourself. Toby

When one party will not communicate with the other, this makes the process much more expensive. Around £80k in solicitors and barrister fees. Vbkinguk

Another story that cut through was London restaurant chain Ping Pong scrapping tips - months before new legislation will require restaurateurs to give staff 100%.

Readers don't seem impressed...

Best thing employees and customers can do is boycott them. Just goes to show what they actually think of their staff. Dave

I don't want to eat somewhere that doesn't look after its employees. Jack

I'm sure patrons and staff will vote with their feet! How disgraceful to remove tips, probably as the owners aren't getting any cut of their staff's hard work! Elijah

We've reported extensively on the rise to the state pension this month - including how, due to frozen income tax thresholds, more pensioners will be dragged into paying income tax. Chris seems to be one of those impacted...

I deferred taking my state pension for five years to hopefully boost my pension, because I happened to be the last group of people to get the old state pension. Unfortunately because of the tax band freeze any benefit from the pension uplift is being eroded every year, is this fair? Chris

And finally, on Monday we suggested a cheaper way to buy herbs and spices in the supermarket - by using the world food aisle...

We had this comment...

Best money-saving practice for herbs and spices is to source them at Asian stores - not supermarkets! Pip

Spain is planning to scrap a "golden visa" scheme that grants residency rights to foreigners who make large investments in real estate.

Ending the scheme would help make access to affordable housing "a right instead of a speculative business", Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

The programme awards non-EU citizens investing at least €500,000 (around £429,000) in Spanish real estate - without taking out a mortgage - a special permit, allowing them to live and work in the country for three years.

In better news for Britons who hope to live abroad, Italy is allowing non-EU citizens who can work remotely to apply for a year-long "digital nomad" visa.

There's a few salary/reference based criteria to meet - read about them here...

Labour this week tried to address questions over how it would pay for key pledges  after the Tories used their idea of scrapping the non-dom status to fund a national insurance cut.

Labour had been committed to abolishing non-dom status for years - upon gaining power they planned to use the money to fund breakfast clubs for primary school children and additional appointments in the NHS.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves this week announced the party's plan to raise £5bn a year by the end of the next parliament...

• Labour said it would raise £2.6bn by closing "loopholes" in the government's non-doms plan - after certain exemptions were kept in place by Jeremy Hunt;
• Labour said the "tax gap" - the difference between the amount of money HMRC is owed and the amount it receives - had widened to £36bn in 2021-22 - £5bn more than it had been the previous year;
• To close the gap, Labour said it would invest up to £555m a year in boosting the number of compliance officers at HMRC, increasing productivity and improving the organisation's "dire" customer service;
• It would also consider requiring more tax schemes to be registered with HMRC to ensure they are legitimate, and renew the focus on offshore tax compliance.

The government responded by saying: "The Conservatives have introduced over 200 measures to clamp down on tax non-compliance and we are sticking to the plan to strengthen the economy so we can cut taxes, putting £900 in the pockets of the average worker and helping families to build a brighter future."

Shell is weighing up quitting the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for a move to New York over concerns its listing is currently "undervalued".

Chief executive Wael Sawan  told Bloomberg  that he was mulling "all options".

The British oil and gas giant is currently the largest company in the FTSE 100 index, and its departure from the LSE would be a significant blow to the UK stock market that is fighting to stay relevant.

There's been a run of bad news for the LSE over the past year or so. The world's largest building products manufacturer, CRH, moved to New York, while travel company Tui moved to Frankfurt. And despite the lobbying of numerous prime ministers, UK-based chip company Arm chose the NYSE.

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money.

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

Check them out this morning and we'll be back on Monday with rolling news and features.

The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

UK lenders have seen a rise in defaults on mortgages and credit cards - with the trend expected to continue in the coming months, according to a survey.

A poll of banks and building societies by the Bank of England reveals lenders reported higher default rates on secured loans and unsecured lending in the three months to the end of February.

The rates for mortgages, credit cards and other loans, as well as loans to small to medium businesses, are all expected to rise in the next quarter.

The BoE carries out the survey every quarter as part of its role to maintain financial stability.

It also revealed increased demand for borrowing, with this also expected to climb during the three months to the end of May.

Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said the latest BoE data suggests "a more positive economic outlook hasn't fed through to household finances yet".

"Defaults across all unsecured lending increasing over the same three-month period indicates many people are still struggling to meet their day-to-day costs. Lenders will need to be vigilant and continue to offer support for borrowers in the interim," he said.

By  Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

Poor software and bias toward making only small, sequential changes is one of the reasons economic forecasters at the Bank of England failed to predict and prepare for the cost of living crisis, brought about by high inflation, according to a "once in a generation" review.

The review announced last year was undertaken by the former head of the US central bank, known as the Fed, and said the quality of the Bank's economic expectations "deteriorated significantly in the past few years" due to out of date software and "excessive incrementalism".

Though the "unusually large forecasting errors" were said to be "probably inevitable", according to the review, conducted by Dr Ben Bernanke.

The problem was not unique to the Bank, rather something all central banks and private forecasters suffered from, it said.

Read the full story here...

After the UK airports with the worst delays were revealed earlier today (see post at 1.15pm), we've been looking at your rights.

If you're unlucky enough to get stuck at an airport due to a flight delay, you may wonder if you're entitled to any compensation.

The good news is you may be - in certain circumstances.

First, it's important to know what flights are covered by consumer law. These are: 

• Any flight leaving a UK airport
• Flights operated by a UK/EU airline arriving at a UK airport
• Flights operated by a UK airline only arriving at an EU airport

When will I be entitled to help? 

You'll qualify for support if a short-haul flight under 932 miles (1,500km) is pushed back by two hours. 

This rises to three hours for journeys up to 2,175 miles (3,500km).

For long-haul flights going any further than this, four hours or longer counts as a significant delay.

What support will I get?

Under UK law, airlines must give passengers who are affected by a delay of at least two hours:

• A reasonable amount of food and drink (usually provided in the form of vouchers)
• Refunds for the cost of two free phone calls, faxes or emails
• Accommodation for passengers stranded overnight (usually in a nearby hotel)
• Transport to a hotel - or their home

Will I get compensation?

Usually, airlines have to provide compensation if a person's flight arrives more than three hours late.

The exception to this is when there are air traffic control problems or extreme weather, as these issues aren't their fault.

If you agree to travel on a later flight, the airline is no longer obliged to offer food, drink or accommodation while you wait.

Thankfully, you are entitled to a full refund if you decide to abandon your journey after five hours of delays.

The length of your flight affects how much you are entitled to:

• Short-haul flight - £220
• Medium-haul flight - £350
• Long-haul flight - £520 if the flight arrived more than four hours late, £260 for a delay of between three to four hours

What if I'm about to travel?

Transfer passengers who end up missing a connecting flight because their first plane was delayed are entitled to a service back to their original departure point.

But things get a little more complicated for passengers on package holidays - especially if they decide not to travel on a delayed outbound flight.

The CAA's guidance says: "You may lose your holiday too, so we recommend you contact your package organiser or the airline for further information.

"If you still want to travel then your airline must get you to your destination. You might have to be patient while they rearrange transport and rebook passengers, but the law says they must get you there."

What if my flight is cancelled? 

You're entitled to a refund or replacement flight if yours is cancelled. Your rights to assistance are the same as if your flight is delayed.

If the reason for the cancellation was within the airline's control, and it was made with no more than 14 days' notice, then depending on the timings of the new flight offered you could also be entitled to compensation.

You'll be able to claim £110 and £520 depending on the length of the route and timings of the new flight.

Drivers are still feeling the strain of rising insurance premiums - but there are signs of a slowdown, according to one index.

New figures from insights firm Consumer Intelligence suggest the average quoted price of car insurance rose by 56.4% in the year to February.

This was the third-highest annual increase since its records began in 2012 - but in slightly better news for motorists, it marked a lower annual rise than the 67.2% recorded in November.

And there was only a slight rise of 0.5% when looking at the three months to February - the lowest quarterly increased since November 2021.

Drivers most commonly received a quote between £500 and £749 in February, Consumer Intelligence said. It analysed the average of the five cheapest offers from price comparison websites.

Max Thompson, the firm's insurance insight manager, said big insurance brands made "competitive movements" to reduce premiums at the start of the year.

"However, some of this was unwound in February indicating it may have been more of a tactical move than a long-term trend," he added.

Jonathan Fong, manager of general insurance policy at the Association of British Insurers, said insurers were "aware of the financial challenges customers are facing" and were working to keep prices affordable.

"Our motor premium tracker is the only collection based on the price customers pay for their policy, rather than quotes, and shows that the average motor premium increased by 25% last year to £543.

"This was largely driven by above inflation increases in the cost of repairs, thefts and replacement cars."

The Abu Dhabi-backed vehicle that had been on the brink of buying The Daily Telegraph is in detailed talks with Whitehall officials about the structure of an onward sale of the newspaper. 

Sky News has learnt that RedBird IMI is negotiating with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about whether it can convert a call option which constitutes the right to take ownership of the Telegraph and Spectator into shares in the assets prior to their purchase by a new owner.

Read the exclusive story by our City editor Mark Kleinman ...

The telecoms entrepreneur who turned Daisy Group into one of the industry's most successful private companies is closing in on the latest in a string of significant takeover deals.

Matthew Riley, Daisy's chairman, has orchestrated a £215m deal to acquire 4Com , a provider of cloud communications services to more than 17,000 corporate customers, Sky News understands.

City sources said the deal was expected to be signed within days and was likely to hand 4Com founder Daron Hutt a windfall worth more than £100m.

Read the full story here ...

The Financial Conduct Authority has told motor finance firms they need to put funds aside as it continues a probe into the sector.

The City regulator also said many firms are "struggling to promptly provide the data we need" for the investigation.

A review was launched by the FCA earlier this year into whether people could be owed compensation for being charged too much for car loans, following a high number of complaints on historic agreements.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Protected by the 450-foot-high walls of the Stratobowl, the helium-filled Explorer II research balloon is inflated before its record-setting ascent on November 11, 1935.

• HISTORY & CULTURE

The birthplace of the space age isn’t where you think

Scientists riding balloons in a remote region of the U.S. collected vital data used by NASA to get humans into orbit.

One thing is clear: No one is going ballooning today.

It is 6 a.m. on a recent Friday. I am standing amid a few dozen folks shivering in the early morning chill at a highway rest stop in the Black Hills, just west of Rapid City, South Dakota. Our heads are all tilted upward, our eyes squinting to keep sight of a tiny black dot—a small helium balloon released a few moments ago by Mark West, a tall, silver-haired fellow whose usual easy smile has turned to a tight-lipped frown.

“It’s going in the wrong direction,” he says. “That’ll take us to Mount Rushmore.” And there’s more bad news when he calls the Rapid City National Weather Service on his cell phone: The previous night’s rains, while abating somewhat, will hang around.

A knot of us—just about all wearing face masks as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into the month of September—gather around to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“I would definitely not recommend going up this morning,” West finally announces. And he should know—he’s president of the Balloon Federation of America. But as I glance around, the crowd seems surprisingly upbeat.

“Okay,” comes a voice from the pack. “We’re gonna go down into the bowl to play.”

FREE BONUS ISSUE

“The bowl” is a rock-walled, 450-foot-deep natural pit that yawns just a few yards from this highway pullout. Beyond a stand of trees, the land suddenly drops away into a sheer, semi-circular rocky chasm. At its base lies a large circular meadow protected from wind—a hot-air balloonist’s paradise.

Since 1934, the spot has been known as the Stratobowl. In a two-year blizzard of activity, scientists from the U.S. Army Air Corps and the National Geographic Society gathered here, taking advantage of those protective granite walls and the site’s 4,000-foot elevation, to launch humans into the stratosphere for the first time. Huddled inside a modified version of the bathyspheres that oceanographers were using to explore the depths of the ocean, teams strapped themselves to insanely huge balloons, filled first with hydrogen, later with helium. Casting off their ropes, they lurched to unheard-of heights before descending to dangerous, barely controlled landings hundreds of miles away. ( Follow along the world's first bathysphere dive to unexplored depths in 1931. )

Some 100 support staff—plus members of the South Dakota National Guard and the U.S. Army’s 4th Cavalry Regiment—populated a temporary village built inside the Stratobowl.

Using data from those early ascents—as well as later Stratobowl balloon launches in the late 1950s—NASA and its predecessors studied the survivability of ultra-high-altitude travel. It is no exaggeration to say that the space age began inside the Stratobowl.

Now, each year in September, a dedicated group of balloonists returns to the bowl to commemorate those primal pinpricks in Earth’s upper atmosphere. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Labor Day, as the balloonists gather at the bottom of the Stratobowl, thousands of onlookers peer from vantage points around its rim, marveling at the sight of hot-air balloons rising from below, lingering at eye-level, then sailing off overhead as they catch a puff of wind.

On this rainy Friday, the spectators will be disappointed. But for balloonists, the Stratobowl offers a unique consolation prize: They can head down to the bowl floor, inflate their balloons, and “play”—rising to a hundred feet or so, tethered to the bumpers of the trucks they use to haul their gear.

Besides, as one balloonist tells me, “We’ll get ‘em tomorrow.” He pauses, then adds, “Or the day after that.”

Peace rising

As the die-hard balloonists depart in a caravan down the twisting, unpaved road that leads to the bowl’s bottom, I opt to take a hike along the unmarked Stratobowl Rim Trail. Even on this cloudy morning, the view is staggering. Far below, two determined balloonists have already inflated their colorful craft and are gently rising and falling, like flowers floating on invisible waves. Also drifting up from the floor is the faint gurgling of Spring Creek, which meanders through the semicircular bowl and empties through a small tree-lined canyon.

As the rising sun illuminates the valley floor, I notice a not-so-natural feature of the Stratobowl: an enormous 1960s peace sign mowed into the grass. It’s the handiwork of the man who owns this little bit of hot-air-balloon heaven, Ken Tomovick.

“I cut that peace sign into the grass around 2008,” says Tomovick. “I had a few reasons to do it. One was to recognize my brother, who was severely wounded in Vietnam.”

We are sitting on the back porch of Tomovick’s rustic house, just a few feet from the bowl’s grassy clearing. His family has owned land down here for generations, and his plot happens to include the historic balloon launching field.

A retired professional plane and helicopter aviator, Tomovick has, ironically, never piloted a hot air balloon. But he treasures the bowl’s aviation history, and loves to wander among the balloons and their scurrying launch teams, occasionally stopping to help pull a rope or hold a balloon envelope open as a large fan fills it with air.

“It’s just the way Ken is,” says his wife, Cory, gently touching his arm. “There’s just this part of him that wants to share this place with the world.”

For years, Tomovick was part of a protracted effort to get the Stratobowl declared a national historic site. It would have happened, but the designation was blocked by neighbors who, he says with some exasperation, are not fans of ballooning.

“That might be another reason I carved that peace sign out there,” he says, smiling wryly and envisioning the contrarian neighbors sputtering at his silent message of peace and generosity every time they look out their back window.

Near disaster

It is 6 a.m. Saturday. I emerge from my hotel delighted to see stars twinkling in a dark, clear sky.

“Today we balloon!” I tell myself. Then I discover a text message from Kay West, who along with her husband, Mark—the guy with a hotline to the Weather Service—began this yearly ritual in 2010.

“Rain showers east of us,” she writes. “Likely won’t fly. But will tether in the bowl.”

This time I join in the festivities on the Stratobowl floor, walking with Kay among five balloons in various stages of inflation. One of the sport’s top pilots and a nationally recognized instructor, Kay has been running Black Hills Balloons since 1984. She’s expecting up to a dozen balloonists to participate in this year’s full-fledged launch—if it ever happens. “We’ve never had a complete wash-out,” she says confidently.

I hitch short rides with a few generous balloonists. Tethered at this elevated vantage point, my view takes in the entire bowl, from its grassy floor to its rocky rim, wispy morning fog clinging to the cliffs. It’s easy to imagine this place bustling with activity in the mid-1930s, the electricity of scientific endeavor crackling around its sheer walls.

Ballooning pioneers Capts. Orville Anderson and Albert W. Stevens prepare for their record-setting flight above the Black Hills of South Dakota. Anderson later wrote, “The gondola returned with…information on cosmic rays, the ability of living mold spores to survive in rarified air [and] the intensity of solar radiation.”

The National Geographic Society’s board had decided in 1933 that instead of simply reporting on the world’s great ballooning adventures, they would mount a high-altitude aerial expedition of their own. Within months the Society had settled on the Stratobowl site, largely thanks to its proximity to a major road and the high, sheer walls, which would shield the huge balloon from damaging winds during inflation.

Partnering with the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Society commissioned Dow Chemical to build a spherical gondola made of Dowmetal, a material lighter than aluminum. The craft would accommodate three men plus scientific equipment to measure barometric pressure, altitude—and, in an almost prescient nod to the future concerns of space travel, cosmic rays.

The craft came on flatbed truck from Michigan. The enormous balloon, to be filled with 35,000 cubic feet of hydrogen, arrived in a crate from the Goodyear-Zeppelin plant in Akron, Ohio.

The craft, called Explorer , took off without a hitch around 5 a.m. on July 28, 1934. But things went south by the time the three-man crew reached 60,000 feet.

“A small rope fell from the bag and clattered on top of the gondola,” wrote crewman Capt. Albert Stevens. “Through the port I looked up, startled, to see the large rip in the balloon’s lower surface.”

Soon the men were plunging to Earth, the remnants of the balloon acting like a pitifully inefficient parachute—nevertheless “a pretty sight,” Stevens observed.

Barely 6,000 feet above Nebraska, some flapping piece of material must have caused a spark, because the remaining hydrogen did what hydrogen does: It exploded. The three men, with only seconds to spare, jumped free and parachuted safely to Earth while Explorer , in Stevens’s words, “hit with a tremendous thud.”

Almost immediately, National Geographic commissioned the construction of Explorer II, with one major change: helium instead of hydrogen. And lest Society members think their $3.50 annual dues were being frittered away, President Gilbert H. Grosvenor assured them, “The financial loss resulting from the explosion of the balloon and the crash of the gondola was much reduced by insurance.”

Straining at its leashes, Explorer II's helium-filled envelope seemed eager to escape the confines of the Stratobowl. Minutes later, the balloon carried the National Geographic-Army Air Corps-sponsored expedition 72,395 feet into the stratosphere.

Explorer II rose from the Stratobowl at around 7 a.m. on November 11, 1935. At 11:40 a.m. the craft topped out at 72,395 feet, nearly 14 miles above sea level—a new record. The two-man crew snapped a photo encompassing thousands of square miles, from the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming to the farms and ranches that spread southeast from Rapid City.

You May Also Like

Historic moon lander malfunctions after launch—but NASA isn’t panicked (yet)

These balloonists disappeared when they tried to reach to the North Pole. Haunting photographs reveal their fate.

The brightest blast ever seen in space continues to surprise scientists

“Sunlight sparkled from rivers and lakes, but we saw no sign of life,” wrote Stevens, testing fate by once more heading aloft. “It seemed a foreign and lifeless world.” To Stevens, the sight so familiar to the millions of us who travel in airliners each year was as unfamiliar as a Mars scape.

And there was something else visible in that photo: the wide, lazy arc of the horizon. It was the first-ever photograph of the curvature of the Earth.

Explorer II came to Earth 225 miles to the east. This time, Stevens said, it was an “eggshell landing.”

Both Explorer launches were a sensation in Rapid City and beyond. Between 25,000 and 30,000 onlookers turned out for each one, teetering on the clifftop above or seated in a ticketed gallery on the bowl’s floor. NBC radio broadcast the Explorer II launch live to a worldwide audience as far away as South Africa.

In the 1950s, the U.S. Navy would return to the Stratobowl with Project Strato-Lab, setting new ballooning altitude records and developing technology for NASA’s Project Mercury space suits. But those feats never matched the high-flying frenzy that surrounded Explorer I and II .

“For that generation, this was their Project Mercury,” says Mark West. “It was their moon landing. Not only had Rapid City never seen anything like this—the world had never seen anything like it.”

Aloft at last

It is 6 a.m. Sunday. I notice, with Groundhog Day -inspired trepidation, the sky looks much as it did yesterday.

At the highway pullout, Mark West is releasing today’s black balloon. It rises lazily, then abruptly shoots off to the southeast—away from Mount Rushmore, at least, but the speed of its departure seems worrying to all.

Mark calls the Weather Service, and the news is not great: Although the wind here at ground level seems calm, on high is a traffic jam of swirling, unpredictable air currents.

“Well,” sighs Kay, “better to be down here wishing you were up there than to be up there wishing you were down here.” I later learn it’s an old balloonist adage.

“But we’ve never been totally shut out all three days,” comes a voice.

“I know,” says Kay. “There’s only one thing that’s different this year…”

I am suddenly aware that every eye in that dark parking lot has turned to me.

“Sure,” I say. “Let’s find a volcano and you can sacrifice me to the wind gods.”

Kay has one more question for the Weather Service guy: How thick is the layer of calmer air before you get to the upper level turbulence?

“Uh…about 1,800 feet,” he says.

Every face around me lights up.

“If that holds, that’s plenty!” Kay exclaims, and soon everybody is scrambling to their trucks to haul their balloons to the Stratobowl floor.

“It’s not his fault,” says Kay of the Weather Service guy’s prematurely negative outlook. “Not all those guys know ballooning.”

Soon I’m ascending from the Stratobowl floor, the rocky wall sliding by vertically, like the interior of a stone elevator shaft. Kay is piloting the craft, while Ken Tomovick and I take in the view and try to stay out of her way. Despite his intimate involvement in the event, Tomovick hasn’t been up in a balloon in years, and he seems almost as excited as I am.

With a flash, the sun washes over us as we clear the rim. Moments later we feel a sharp tug as the wind pushes us east. It’s not unlike the feeling of hitting the gas as you come off an interstate highway onramp.

Our flock of balloons stretches for miles. The silence about a thousand feet up is surprising. I’d expected the wind to be rushing by us, but of course we are one with the wind. Behind us, in the Black Hills, the profile of George Washington peers out from Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which at the time of the first Stratobowl launch was just taking shape atop the mountain the Lakota Sioux called Tuŋkášila Šákpe, or the Six Grandfathers.

As the hills give way to rolling ranchland, a small herd of cattle lows to our right. I’m reminded that not all the ranchers around here are enamored with balloons. Some insist the colorful globes soaring overhead scare their cattle, although the ones I’m looking at right now couldn’t seem to care less.

Our pilot Kay isn’t paying much attention to the sights. She focuses on the other balloons dead ahead of us, discerning which way the wind is blowing and reckoning whether she should stay at their level or change altitude in search of more favorable winds.

“There are balloon pilots,” she says, “and there are people who just take up a balloon and look pretty.”

After a half-hour or so aloft, the other balloons are starting to land, and Kay spots a likely site for us along a road about eight miles from where we started. Alternately firing up the balloon's gas burner and releasing hot air through the vents up top, she skirts a low hill of prairie grass, then pops us back up just long enough to hop a wire fence at about three mph. I can’t help but think of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin skipping over boulders and craters as they searched out a safe landing spot on the surface of the moon.

We come to rest, as if lowered by an invisible hand, directly on the shoulder of a country road. The Eagle has landed.

It is near midnight. The dark walls of the Stratobowl frame a canvas of impossibly bright stars. It was here that humans took their first significant steps toward those stars, toward seeing themselves as citizens not just of Earth, but of the cosmos as well.

Two decades would pass before humans challenged Explorer II’ s high-flying records. In 1954 a U.S. Air Force X2 jet finally smashed its altitude mark, nearly doubling it. Seven years after that, the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin became the first human to break the bonds of Earth and slip into orbit.

And today, billions of miles away, the interstellar spacecraft Voyager II sets a new altitude record every second. Among its continuing tasks: measuring cosmic rays, building on a data set begun nearly 90 years ago in a balloon launched to the edge of space from a grassy meadow in a rocky bowl.

Related Topics

• SPACE EXPLORATION
• HOT-AIR BALLOONS
• COSMIC RAYS

U.S. returns to the moon as NASA's Odysseus successfully touches down

The 11 most astonishing scientific discoveries of 2023

Why go back to the moon? NASA’s Artemis program has even bigger ambitions

Humans are about to explore a metal-rich asteroid for the first time. Here's why.

What’s out there? Why humanity keeps pushing the cosmic frontier.

• Environment
• Paid Content

History & Culture

• History & Culture
• History Magazine
• Gory Details
• 2023 in Review
• Mind, Body, Wonder
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Your US State Privacy Rights
• Children's Online Privacy Policy
• Interest-Based Ads
• About Nielsen Measurement
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Nat Geo Home
• Attend a Live Event
• Book a Trip
• Inspire Your Kids
• Shop Nat Geo
• Visit the D.C. Museum
• Learn About Our Impact
• Support Our Mission
• Advertise With Us
• Customer Service
• Renew Subscription
• Manage Your Subscription
• Work at Nat Geo
• Sign Up for Our Newsletters
• Contribute to Protect the Planet

Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society Copyright © 2015-2024 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved