Returning astronauts describe pain in the soles of the feet and lower back within days of landing — the spine suddenly forced to support half the body's weight again after months of weightlessness

Returning astronauts describe pain in the soles of the feet and lower back within days of landing — the spine suddenly forced to support half the body's weight again after months of weightlessness

When NASA astronaut Frank Rubio returned from his record-breaking 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station in September 2023, he could not walk unassisted off the Soyuz capsule and later described a burning ache in the soles of his feet and a deep pain low in his back that lingered for weeks. His spine, no longer floating, was suddenly being asked to carry roughly half his body weight through vertebrae that had spent a year expandi…