One notable finding was that the astronaut's telomeres grew significantly in length while in space, and after returning to earth shrank back down. As telomere shortening has implications in aging as well as in cancers, it will be interesting to follow up this finding and determine 1) the differences in terrestrial and extraterrestrial atmospheres that account for the increase in telomere length, and 2) the implications that this may hold in terms of cell senescence and tumor growth.