In the name of science, former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly recently shoved himself into the top of a rocket, accelerated to 17,500 mph (28,200 km/h), and fell around Earth for 340 days - nearly an entire year.
The lack of gravity, radiation exposure, Kelly's diet, and other facts of life in orbit affected his body in significant ways - including, as NASA is learning now, even his genetic blueprint.
The Twin Study, which is still in progress, uses Scott Kelly's identical twin brother and fellow former astronaut, Mark Kelly, to unmask the subtle but important effects of long-duration space travel on the human body.
Business Insider's Dina Spector reported on some of the most fascinating preliminary results of the study, which NASA released at the end of January, including bodily changes caused by the possible existence of a 'space gene'.
Here are eight other biological oddities that happen to your body if you're in space for a year:
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
More from Business Insider:
- 10 things in tech you need to know today
- The 10 most important things in the world right now
- Elon Musk's mission to solve LA's 'soul-destroying' traffic problem has begun, but there's turbulence ahead
- The future of artificial intelligence in retail
- Saudi human rights commission interviews detainees, including women's rights activists, over alleged torture, report says
