Astronaut admits to tall story about growth spurt

Norishige Kanai, a Japanese astronaut, apologised yesterday for saying he had grown 9cm (3.5in) while in space and expressing concern about whether he would be safe on his return to Earth.

Kanai, who went to space last month for a six-month mission on the International Space Station, posted on Twitter “a big announcement” that he had “really shot up”.

A day later, he apologised, saying that he had measured himself after his captain raised questions about the reported growth and he had stretched only 2cm (0.78in) .