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UK Space Agency
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Can You Get Fat in Space?
As part of the The Great British Space Dinner competition, celebrity chef, Heston Blumenthal, asks us the question, “Can you get fat in space?”. He explains that, due to being in a weightless environment, astronauts' muscles do not need to work as hard as on Earth, and so the fat on their bodies could increase. However, he also tells us that as food floats inside the astronauts’ stomachs, they feel fuller more quickly, and that astronauts are required to exercise for two hours a day to maintain their muscle and bone mass. Heston says that it is much more likely for Tim Peake to come back to Earth thinner rather than fatter, and so he challenges children to design a meal that will give Tim the right nutrients to ensure that this does not happen.
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