In a bizarre news, Japanese Astronaut, Norishige Kanai on Monday claimed that he had grown a good three-and-a-half inches since his arrival at the International Space Station on 19 December, reported The Washington Post.
“Good morning, everyone. Today I share some serious news. Since coming to space, I have grown nine centimetres. This is the most I’ve grown in three weeks since junior high school,” he said in a tweet (translated from Japanese).
While growing in space is certainly a phenomenon that has been heard of before, with NASA stating that two inches of growth is typical, three-and-a-half inches is quite astonishing, the report added.
However, according to ABC News, Kanai, in a follow-up tweet, said that he had re-measured himself, and the results showed a normal growth of 0.79 inches. He even reportedly added in an apology for spreading “fake news”.
A former NASA astronaut, Clayton Anderson, told ABC News that getting taller in space was normal because during his last trip in April 2010, he had grown a full two inches.
On Earth, gravity pulls on you, and so your spine is compressed. When you go into space, gravity is lessened and so your body begins to stretch.Clayton Anderson told ABC News
Expanding on this, JD Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer told The Washington Post that human beings unconsciously experienced a similar kind of phenomenon everyday.
According to Polk, when one lies down, their spine decompresses by as much as half a centimeter, and when they stand or sit up, it compresses again.
Kanai’s case was special because three-and-a-half inches was a notable growth spurt, even in space. According to ABC News, before he re-measured his height and sent out an apology, Kanai had been worried that he wouldn’t fit into his seat of the Soyuz capsule, which is to bring him back home.
As of now, however, it seems like the Japanese astronaut has nothing to worry about. He will return to his normal height once on earth, the report adds.
(With inputs from The Washington Post and ABC News)
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