Is it true that prolonged weightlessness causes deterioration of bones?
Indeed it does. It also causes loss in muscle mass. Although in space you won’t really notice this happening very easily due to the apparent weightlessness. This limits the maximum time you can spend in space before your bones are too brittle so survive landing/gravity again. It also can cause long term problems for astronauts with long cumulative “space time”. It can give you osteoarthritis for one. This is a big problem for scientists as any trip to planets in our solar system need to have a system to eliminate or at least severely slow down this deterioration as most trips are going to be a six month trip one way. This is also going to be a problem for anyone born in weightlessness as they’re bodies won’t develop strong enough bones or musculature and they will never be able to set foot on earth without being killed.
