Popular Mechanics
Since the early days of the Mercury missions in the late 1950s, astronauts have described the impact that viewing Earth from space has had on them. In addition to a mind-bending shift in perspective, evidence has shown that long-duration space travel can literally rewire a space traveler’s brain, too.
New research from an international team of scientists, led by Floris Wuyts of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, has revealed changes in the brains of 12 Russian cosmonauts who had spent, on average, around 172 days in space. The findings add to decades of research looking at how extended periods of time in space can impact the human body.