Written By: Satata Karmakar | Published : April 11, 2026 8:29 AM IST
Medically Verified By: Dr Pankaj Bansal
Image credits by: Artemis II Mission: NASA astronauts to spend 10 days orbiting the Moon — From muscle loss to bone weakening, what zero gravity does to human body
The 10-day Artemis II Moon mission is finally over and all the four NASA astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft have splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean and emerged safely from their capsule. As per reports, the splashdown took place at 8:07 pm EDT on April 10 ( 5:37 am IST on April 11) in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
First launched on April 2, the Artemis II mission marks one of the major milestones for NASA where the astronauts spent 10 days orbiting the moon (beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17.) During their journey to the moon orbit, the 4 membered NASA crew travelled thousands of miles past the moon and even witnessed a total solar eclipse from space. They names it after astronaut Reid Wiseman's wife who died in 2020.
While the entire experience in the space was captured and shared on the social media for the general public, what many fail to notice is how this 10-days mission is going to imapct the entire body and the system of these 4 astronauts.
Helicopter transfer ensured a faster return compared to boats, allowing the crew to quickly reach medical teams for post-flight evaluations. More than 550 personnel onboard the ship are welcoming the astronauts as recovery operations continue following their successful mission.
In an exclusive interaction with TheHealthSite.com,Dr Pankaj Bansal, Senior Consultant - Internal Medicine, Sharda Care Healthcity, said, zero gravity can have some serious effects on the human body, such as:
"The human body responds promptly, but such modifications may negatively impact one's well-being. Lack of adequate physical activity in outer space results in considerable bodily deterioration," added Dr Bansal.
The human body is governed by the gravitational pull that is available on the earth, but it is not the case for the space. In space, there is no gravity, and thus problem arrises in the way the human body functions. Answering the most important question on how the human body changes after any type of stay in the space, Dr Bansal said, "Under no gravity, the human body is usually not foced to let the fluid go down in the body - thus flui accumulation takes place in the upper portion of the body - leaving the astronauts puffy and swollen.
How does zero gravity affect blood circulation and heart function? The zero-gravitational pull also impact the human heart and the blood circulation, putting extra strain on the system to bounce back against the odds. According to Dr Bansal, In space the proper blood and other fluids are not distributed to all the parts of the body, mainly the lower body part, this leads to excessive blood accumulation in the upper region, causing serious health problems.
The following are effects on the heart when the blood circulation is poor or not happening properly:
While there are some severe consequences of spending time in the space, NASA sends only those astronauts who are trained to handle these. As per experts from the spcae agency, it takes upto 1 month or more for these astronauts to return back to their normal life. During this time, they mostly train their memory and the muscles to understand and behave adjusting to the gravitational pull on the earth again.
All four astronauts from Artemis II are reported to be in "excellent shape" following splashdown aboard the Orion spacecraft. NASA officials confirmed the crew is doing well as recovery operations continue, with medical teams set to carry out standard post-flight evaluations once the astronauts are safely aboard the recovery vessel.
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