NASA Sent One Twin Into Space for a Year - This Is What Happened
In March 2015, NASA sent a pair of twins, Scott and Mark Kelly, on a wild mission. Scott got the space ticket, while Mark stayed on planet Earth as a control group by which NASA could measure the extend of the changes Scott endured while off-planet. Scott Kelly was up in the International Space Station, landing back on Earth one year after going into space. After his return, scientists went Sherlock Holmes on the twin, studying everything from brainpower to his gut. This is what they found.
NASA's Twin Experiment
NASA spilled the tea that Scott's chromosome caps, called telomeres, actually got longer while he was in space; a surprising discovery. Typically, shorter telomeres are linked to getting old, but they returned to normal once he returned to Earth. It's like some space magic messing with our DNA!