Exploring long-term health consequences of extended spaceflight 

Rachael Seidler, Ph.D., in collaboration with NASA, examines the potential impact of long-duration spaceflight on the brain, behavior, and aging.

As the world watches the astronauts on the Boeing Starliner stuck in space for many months due to a capsule malfunction, more questions are arising about the impacts of people spending extended periods of time in space.

University of Florida researcher Rachael Seidler, Ph.D., has been examining these questions in her study of the long-term effects of long-duration spaceflight on neurocognitive performance.

In collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Seidler — a professor in the College of Health & Human Performance’s Department of Applied Physiology & Kinesiology and the deputy director of the UF Astraeus Space Institute — is researching how spaceflight may affect astronauts in microgravity, or weak gravity, environments.

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