Scott Kelly Quotes

People do really well on space missions, but it's the physiological, the medical stuff, the stuff like radiation, loss of bone mass and muscle mass and density. It's those things that we need to figure out.

Gravity on Earth provides a force that keeps our bones and muscles working. In the microgravity of space, our bones and muscles are not taxed, so they begin to atrophy.

The life expectancy of people going to Mars may be decreased by the higher level of radiation that they receive.

Exploring Mars is a far different venture from Apollo expeditions to the moon; it necessitates leaving our home planet on lengthy missions with a constrained return capability.

One of the major problems with long-term deep space human flight is the requirement for radiation shielding.

Asteroids are deep-space bodies orbiting the Sun, not the Earth, and traveling to one would mean sending humans into solar orbit for the very first time. Facing those challenges of radiation, navigation and life support on a months-long trip millions of miles from home would be a perfect learning journey before a Mars trip.

According to the 2000 'Report of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation,' the long-lasting effects of nuclear testing can be qualified in simple scientific terms: 'Radiation exposure can damage living cells, causing death in some of them and modifying others.'

The biggest technical challenge to sending astronauts on farther and longer missions is biomedical: How do we keep them healthy?

Only by studying large numbers of people can we figure out, are astronauts dying at a higher rate of cancer, and what types of cancers, than other people?

If you go on a journey to Mars and get into deep space, there is several hundred times, maybe 300 times the radiation.

We want people to continue learning new things about what space does to the human body. It's important for us to understand that and make sure when we get ready to fly to Mars that we are ready for what we're going to be exposed to.

The workouts have positively impacted the astronauts' bones and muscles, and they are coming back in really good shape. But some are losing bone and muscle but not as much as we saw in the early days.

One thing we've learned about space is that the human body starts to fall apart after relatively short exposures to microgravity.

With no gravitational force to work against, your body not only doesn't need the same amount of muscle and bone, it starts breaking them down. As on Earth, so in space: use it or lose it. And exercise may not solve the problem.

There is - I will just say that there was a disastrous day where I discovered really what radioactivity is and that just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it's not everywhere, so - Yeah. I was a slow learner for sure.

Space flight's good for age; I have a lot less wrinkles up here. It's a good place to be as you get older.

Sometimes astronauts feel a little ill or get minor scrapes. I trained as a crew medical officer to do basic treatment.

'Life in space is impossible,' we're warned, and amidst the hypnotic beauty of these heavens, we become painfully aware of what a hostile environment space is, how unforgiving, how unsympathetic to human desires.

One of the things that happens in space is that there is a fluid shift. You get a lot of extra pressure, and it fills your sinuses, and the horseradish is a miracle worker for cleaning that out.

There's a world of insights to be gained into human health and disease by understanding how gravity and space radiation influence biology.

I personally think going to Mars, if it takes two years or two and a half years, that's doable. Certainly, the first people who go there, that's going to be a big motivator, being first getting to Mars.

The majority of astronauts have to change their eyeglasses while in space. They bring eyeglasses with them and typically change a few months into the mission.

Our focus is to get citizen astronauts to experience the 'overview effect,' return to Earth, and then impact their communities.

In my space journey, I felt vulnerable because we did not have anyone with medical background. When we make that big trip to Mars, we would need a doctor on board.

The space program is a peaceful project. The next door is opening. We have to go farther into space. But, before that, we need to develop far more improved nutrition and more advanced spacecraft.