Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have returned from an extended stay on the ISS, which highlights the significant effects of space on human physiology. In the zero-gravity environment, muscles and bones weaken due to lack of use, while the heart and blood vessels do not work against gravity, leading to overall deconditioning. Prof Damian Bailey notes that humans are not evolutionarily equipped to thrive in such extreme conditions. Recovery from these changes can take years, emphasizing the challenges faced by astronauts after long missions in space.
Space is by far the most extreme environment that humans have ever encountered and we've just not evolved to handle the extreme conditions.
It feels like a holiday. Your heart is having an easy time... You're floating around the space station in this wonderful zero-gravity environment.
Even the simple act of standing still uses muscles throughout the body to hold you upright. And that is not happening in the microgravity on board the ISS.
Muscle strength takes on a different meaning when everything is practically weightless.
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