Overview
- The Journal of Neuroscience paper published Monday finds that long missions on the ISS do not erase an Earth‑gravity bias in motor control.
- Across tests with 11 crew members, astronauts gripped objects harder and moved them more slowly in microgravity as their brains kept predicting weight, especially when objects were in motion.
- The bias eased only gradually over months in orbit, while grip and steady movement recovered within a day after landing back on Earth.
- Researchers report that crews use large safety margins to prevent items from flying off due to inertia, which likely increases muscular effort and could inform new tools and gloves to cut fatigue.
- The study grew from nearly 20 years of coordination with space agencies, and the team plans further analyses and notes open questions for partial‑gravity settings on the Moon and Mars.