{"id":19417,"date":"2016-04-07T01:14:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T17:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/astronaut-scott-kelly-says-he-suffered-damaging-stress-during-year-in-space\/"},"modified":"2016-04-07T01:14:12","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T17:14:12","slug":"astronaut-scott-kelly-says-he-suffered-damaging-stress-during-year-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/astronaut-scott-kelly-says-he-suffered-damaging-stress-during-year-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronaut Scott Kelly says he suffered damaging stress during year in space"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Scott
Scott Kelly peers out one of the International Space Station\u2019s windows during his year in orbit. (Credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During his year in space, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly said he could do another year if he had to. But now that Kelly has returned to Earth and retired from NASA, he says the experience took an emotional and physical toll.<\/p>\n

The down side of long-term stints on the International Space Station came up today when Alfred A. Knopf announced it would be publishing Kelly\u2019s memoir, titled \u201cEndurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement included a telling quote from the 52-year-old spaceflier:<\/p>\n

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\u201cDuring my time in orbit, I lost bone mass, my muscles atrophied, and my blood redistributed itself in my body, which strained my heart. Every day, I was exposed to 10 times the radiation of a person on Earth, which will increase my risk of a fatal cancer for the rest of my life. Not to mention the psychological stress, which is harder to quantify and perhaps as damaging.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kelly has previously referred to the rigors of life in space, though not quite as starkly. In addition to the problems he listed in today\u2019s statement, he\u2019s mentioned vision impairment and skin sensitivity. All these are well-known side effects of long-term spaceflight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part is being isolated in a physical sense from people on the ground that are important to you,\u201d Kelly said just before he came back to Earth in March.<\/p>\n

Despite the hardships, Kelly\u2019s book will make the case for continuing space exploration and moving onward to Mars. Here\u2019s what he had to say on that topic today:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are few aspects of everyday life that aren\u2019t touched by the technologies developed for space travel \u2026 but these innovations aren\u2019t the only benefits of spaceflight. \u2026 The superhuman accomplishment of innovation, perseverance, and cooperation carried out by thousands of Americans working towards one audacious goal speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kelly\u2019s retirement from NASA took effect on April 1, and that\u2019s freed him up to take on a variety of outside gigs \u2013 including the book deal. Knopf said Kelly would write \u201cEndurance\u201d with Margaret Lazarus Dean as co-author, with publication set for late 2017.<\/p>\n

Kelly is also due to publish several books about his time in space for young readers, plus a book of photographs taken aboard the space station. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.<\/p>\n