NASA knows that astronauts get taller when they’re in space — it’s the effect of no gravity pulling on their spines. They’ll go back to their normal height when they return to Earth. NASA is having difficulty predicting just how much the astronauts will grow, which affects how well they fit into the seats of the Soyuz spacecraft that ferry them home. How better to illustrate this than with a shot of Gus Grissom, the shortest of the Original Seven astronauts? Story by science writer Alex Stuckey.
Feb. 5, 2018