Sore, but no taller, astronaut Scott Kelly adjusts to Earth

MIAMI: US astronaut Scott Kelly said Friday he is battling fatigue and super-sensitive skin, but is back to his normal height after nearly a year in space.

Kelly’s 340-day mission – spent testing the effects of long-term spaceflight ahead of a future mission to Mars, along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko – wrapped up early Wednesday when they landed in frigid Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.

One of the effects of spending such a long time in the absence of gravity was that Kelly’s spine expanded temporarily, making him grow 3.8 centimetres, only to shrink as he returned to Earth.

His twin brother, Mark Kelly, said they were the same height again by the time they hugged in Houston early Thursday.

According to John Charles, human research program associate manager for international science at Nasa, any height gain “probably went away very quickly because it is a function of fluid accumulation in the discs between the bones in the spinal column.”

Kelly also said reports he had grown a full two inches 5.1 centimetres were exaggerated.

“I don’t know where that came from. I did measure myself and it was an inch and a half, so maybe somebody just decided to just round up and write it as a fact,” he told reporters in his first extended media appearance since his return.

The specifics are important because a team of doctors is carefully researching the genetic, physical and psychological differences between Kelly and his twin, who is also an astronaut but who stayed on Earth to take part in the study.

The details of those ongoing studies are secret for now, as scientists will do further analysis and submit their findings for peerreview before publication.

The idea is to learn more about the harmful effects of spaceflight before Nasa greenlights any deep space mission to an asteroid or Mars, journeys that would last a year or more.

The study includes frequent MRIs of the twins’ organs and major vessels, genetic analysis and a close examination of the effects of radiation, which in high enough doses can lead to cancer.

Asked if the brothers noticed anything else different about each other upon being reunited, Scott answered: “He’s got a better tan.” — AFP

Wildflowers bloom among oak trees near California State Route 223 west of Tehachapi, California. Despite hopes that the major El Nino effect would bring droughtbusting rains to southern California, the storms have been missing the region, delivering only half the rain of a normal year. After a brief period of heavy rain in January, Southern California experienced one of the hottest Februarys ever recorded, prompting early scenic wildflower blooms in several desert and foothill regions. — AFP photo