NASA launches new research project looking at maternal health

Fully assembled International Space Station, completed in 2011. Additional sections have since been planned for addition to the station. (Photo: NASA) Fully assembled International Space Station, completed in 2011. Additional sections have since been planned for addition to the station. (Photo: NASA) Photo: NASA Photo: NASA Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close NASA launches new research project looking at maternal health 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center has partnered with Square Roots, a New York-based maternal health company, to launch a new research project looking at how induced stress can affect a person's metabolism.

The Space Center's Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory will look at changes in biological samples taken from astronauts before and during space flight to evaluate the effects of the physical and emotional stress of space flight on the human metabolism and how the body's metabolism adapts to that stress.

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The results will be published in scientific journals, shared at conferences, and distributed to policy makers and government officials through Square Roots, which will relate the findings to its ongoing research projects on maternal health.

"Motherhood is extraordinary in many ways. This includes high levels of prolonged stress," said Morad Fareed, founder and CEO of Square Roots in a statement. "NASA is informing us how astronauts cope and rebound from the extreme physical and emotional stress of space flight and how these metabolic responses are applicable to an expectant mother's metabolic responses during pregnancy."