It's a completely different kind of space age.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Stranded on the International Space Station at least until February Because of their faulty Boeing plane — but there's also a positive side to their extended adventure in orbit.
The pair will return slightly younger than they were on Earth.
that's because The European Space Agency says A six-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS) saves 0.005 seconds of life.
While the pair might only shave a fraction of a second off their Earth ages, the concept is still incredibly intriguing.
As explained in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, the closer a person gets to the speed of light (about 300 million meters per second), the faster time passes and the slower one ages.
The ISS orbits around the Earth at a speed of 27,500 kilometers per hour. According to the BBC,
There is also gravitational time dilation, which is consistent with Einstein's theory. It is due to the weak gravity and the curvature of the planet that the farther a person is from the center of the Earth, the slower they age.
The subtle changes in time caused by the dense passage of gravity over the Earth's surface are a major reason why experts say Calls for the Moon to be given its own time zone – Because even the best atomic clocks on Earth will be behind in time by a fraction of a second.
Texas A&M researchers found that even this slight delay affects People sitting on top of buildings and skyscrapers.
With regard to human ageing, NASA has studied the impact before He made his presence felt in space by researching biological changes in twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly.
While they both spent time on the ISS, Scott spent nearly ten times more time in space than his brother Mark, who was born six minutes before Scott.
The study found that Mark was five milliseconds older than his brother because, among other factors, Scott had spent more time in space and had a higher orbital speed.
What does this mean for the human body?
While astronauts may lose a few milliseconds of life in astrophysical terms, it could take years, or even decades, for their bone health to improve upon their return to Earth.
“Prolonged stays in space cause irreparable damage to bone structure in some cases and can prematurely age parts of the human skeleton by up to 10 years.” According to a 2022 paper from the University of Gemara, Erlangen-Nuremberg.
A study of 17 astronauts found that nine of them had not fully recovered even a year after their mission and had “decreased bone strength” and a loss of up to 2% in bone mineral density.
“This doesn't sound like a lot, but it corresponds to at least a decade of age-related bone loss,” said researcher Anna-Maria Liphart.
“This means that those affected are more likely to develop osteoporosis and fractures much earlier.”
Additionally, prolonged exposure to space increases the risk of astronauts absorbing doses of radiation, which may put them at risk for cancer. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency warned,
