Bone and body mass changes during space flight
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Updated: Oct 4, 2026

Exploring the Effects of Spaceflight on Mouse Physiology using the Open Access NASA GeneLab Platform
Published on: January 13, 2019
V Schneider1, V Oganov, A LeBlanc
1NASA Headquarters, USA.
Abstract:
Body mass, calcium and skeletal changes occur in humans who have worked in microgravity. Physiologic changes are seen as early as one week and are still occurring 312 days into space flight. The physiologic changes in bone and mineral metabolism may be among those which limits long duration space flight if an adequate countermeasure is not developed. The purpose of this paper is to summarize what is known about calcium dynamics and bone mineral changes as well as associated changes of body mass induced by space flight. The data reported is from a variety of studies conducted in both actual and simulated space flight.
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