For over 55 years, humans have been flying in space. With an understanding of evolution, it has always been assumed that human bodies have adapted to the gravitational force found here on Earth. The space station and the shuttle that most NASA astronauts will stay in orbits 350 km above Earth, with a gravitational pull 90% stronger than it is on the ground (NASA Space Bones). Giancoli describes objects orbiting the Earth as feeling weightless because they are, in essence, free falling towards Earth. The force of gravity causes objects orbiting Earth to “fall” from their normal, straight path as the only force applied on them is gravity. The free falling sensation felt by the astronauts in space is the same sensation briefly felt in a downward
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According to NASA’s data and research, an astronaut loses as much bone mass in a month (about 1-2% of bone mass) as a woman who is post-menopausal does in an entire year (Smithsonian). It is thought that astronauts lose such a prominent amount of their bone mass because, in space, astronauts are not required to support their muscles with their bones as much as they have to on Earth, do to a lessened force of gravity (The Atlantic). One explanation for the loss of bone mass by astronauts while in space is Wolff’s Law. Because astronauts experience microgravity while in space, the human body floats in space. While floating in space, the human body is in an almost weightless condition compare to its time on Earth. Without the pull of Earth’s gravity, human bones are used less and undergo less stress. Wolff’s Law hypothesizes that reduced biomechanical stress on bones leads to a decrease in tissue formation. The prevailing theory on bone deterioration in space uses the ideas of Wolff’s Law and applies them to the realities of space. It theorizes that the bones in the human body that bear weight and are normally stressed experience a decrease in the amount of force applied to them on a normal basis, and thus lead to a decreased stress on the bones in space, which eventually lead to a decrease in bone mass and bone mineral
According to NASA’s data and research, an astronaut loses as much bone mass in a month (about 1-2% of bone mass) as a woman who is post-menopausal does in an entire year (Smithsonian). It is thought that astronauts lose such a prominent amount of their bone mass because, in space, astronauts are not required to support their muscles with their bones as much as they have to on Earth, do to a lessened force of gravity (The Atlantic). One explanation for the loss of bone mass by astronauts while in space is Wolff’s Law. Because astronauts experience microgravity while in space, the human body floats in space. While floating in space, the human body is in an almost weightless condition compare to its time on Earth. Without the pull of Earth’s gravity, human bones are used less and undergo less stress. Wolff’s Law hypothesizes that reduced biomechanical stress on bones leads to a decrease in tissue formation. The prevailing theory on bone deterioration in space uses the ideas of Wolff’s Law and applies them to the realities of space. It theorizes that the bones in the human body that bear weight and are normally stressed experience a decrease in the amount of force applied to them on a normal basis, and thus lead to a decreased stress on the bones in space, which eventually lead to a decrease in bone mass and bone mineral