A Year in Space

It is 2015. A ……………………… stands

upright in a large field. The ………………
inside have made sure it is safe. And now, a
yellow ……………………… begins to glow
underneath the rocket. The ship rises from the
ground.
Inside, the ……………………… prepare
themselves for a difficult ride. The speed of
the rocket is pushing them back against their
chairs, so that they cannot move. Even the
……………………… on their faces gets
……………………… back. But soon, the
ship ………………………the earth’s
atmosphere and finally into space. There is
less gravity here. So, the astronauts begin to
………………………their seats. Only their
seatbelts hold them back.
One of these astronauts is named Scott Kelly.
Soon, he and the others will arrive at the
…………………………………………….,
or ISS. They are bringing ………….…. And
they will help run the station. But Kelly’s trip
is special. Many of the others will be at the
station a few months. But Kelly will be in
space for an ……………………… year.
Today’s Spotlight is on Scott Kelly’s year in
space and what that might mean for future
space travel.
Today, many people have been to space.
Some have even lived there longer than Scott
Kelly. Valeri Polyakov was a Russian
………………………. He stayed at the ISS
for almost 14 months! But still, scientists do
not know much about what happens to a
………………………when they go to space.
This is why Scott Kelly is so important. He is
an ……………………… twin.
Scott Kelly has a brother named Mark Kelly.
They look almost exactly alike – they are
identical. But, most importantly, they have the
same ………………………. Scientists
……………………… the twins before Scott
went to space. When he was in space, Scott
sent the scientists genetic ………………….
And, when he came back, they examined both
twins again. They could then compare the
results. They could compare, ……………….,
what space did to Scott’s body.
Space is a very different environment than
Earth. And human bodies are not very used to
it. Most of this has to do with the lack of
gravity. Living without ………………………
would be very strange for most of us. For
example, you cannot drink from a cup in
space. Water will not stay inside. Water floats
in a ……………………… in the open.
Instead, you must drink from a …………, or
a ………………………. Using the toilet can
also be a messy business. People on the ISS
have special machines to …………………
their waste. Otherwise, it would float around,
and ……………………… the environment.
But living in space means more than just
changing your environment. It actually
changes a person’s body. When Scott Kelly
entered the ISS, there was no gravity pushing
down his ………………………. So, his spine
got longer. In space, he was about three
………………… taller than on earth. He also
did not have to use his muscles much. In
space, you can float in one direction just by
lightly ……………… a wall. Or you can
guide yourself with your hands. This sounds
very fun. But it also means …………atrophy
and lose their power to move. If a person
were to go from space to earth, it would be
very difficult for them to move. So, people
living in space must exercise a lot. This also
keeps their ……………………… strong and
healthy.
But ……………………… changes happened
to Scott Kelly that no one had seen before.
The way his genes worked changed. People’s
genes do not change. But a person’s
environment can change what those genes do.
Scientists call this gene
………………………If a person is in a very
stressful environment, different genes will
express themselves. Scott Kelly was in a very
strange environment. So his genes started
expressing themselves differently.
Christopher Mason is a ………………………
at Weill Cornell Medicine. He also helped
study Scott and Mark. He spoke about the
study at a ……………………….
“As soon as Scott got into space there was a
huge change in over ………………………
genes that are changing a lot. So clearly the
body and cells were ……………………… to
this new environment of space.”
Few of these changes hurt Scott Kelly. Some
even made his …………………………
stronger. But being in space for a year did
have some negative effects. The shape of his
eyes changed. His ……………………… got
worse. His blood vessels became swollen. He
got greater risk of heart ………………….
Scott also encountered some ………………
in space. This means he has a higher risk for
……………………….
After 340 days, Scott Kelly returned to earth.
But even after he left space, scientists
continued studying him. Most of the changes
did not ………………………. Some of his
DNA was damaged. And, he had a harder
time thinking as quickly as before. But
several months ………………………, he
reported feeling normal again.
These results are very important for future
space travel. Not everyone’s bodies will
change like Scott’s. Space affects everyone
differently. It even affects women differently
than men. But Scott Kelly’s year in space will
help ……………………… things that might
go wrong. And it can help ………………
these problems in the future.
Some people want to go even farther into
space – maybe to ………………………
planets or other solar systems. But there may
be some danger in going to space. It is
difficult to understand how the body might
change even farther from earth. People
traveling to other planets would be in space
even longer. And they would …………… a
lot of radiation. But probably, this will not
stop the next generation of explorers. Space is
just too strange. And what you might find
there is too interesting. Scott Kelly has retired
from NASA. But he still wants to go to space.
John Logsdon is a ………………………. He
studies the history of space travel. He spoke
to Scott Kelly in 2018 about what it is like in
space. Kelly said:
“Space is the most joyous and magical place I
could think of.”