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The effects of prolonged weightlessness is loss of muscle mass and general, overall weakness when returning to earths gravity.
The measures to prevent or minimize these effects include a stringent exercise program on special spring loaded equipment designed to simulate the body's weight along with a diet designed to stimulate muscle growth and maintain plenty of energy.

2007-01-03 02:47:36 · answer #1 · answered by LeAnne 7 · 0 0

LeAnne has one effect nailed down well. Two others are that humans "stretch" about an inch (the discs between spinal segments relax due to lack of weight on them) so spacesuits have to be made a bit larger than optimum for them to fit in microgravity. A third effect is that fluids tend to leave the legs and migrate to the upper body, causing slight puffiness (which can sometimes be seen in photographs of astronauts). For some astronauts eyesight seems to improve dramatically (L. Gordon Cooper, on the final Mercury flight in 1963 could see individual ships in harbors, smoke from buildings in the Himalaya Mountains, and buildings on the ground--this was documented as possible during later tests)

2007-01-03 06:51:22 · answer #2 · answered by David A 5 · 0 0

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