A study that kept astronaut blood for 20 years came to the conclusion that the danger of astronaut cancer requires continuous monitoring.
A study published in Nature Communications Biology found that all fourteen astronauts in the study, who were part of NASA's space shuttle programme, had blood-forming
Despite being extremely high given the astronauts' ages, the mutation rate was below a critical level of concern.
Although the study is exceptional for preserving astronaut blood for such a long time, the findings are not particularly compelling.
Instead, the researchers propose that astronauts undergo routine blood testing to monitor for any mutations.
NASA recently altered its lifetime radiation standards, which opponents claimed were unfair to women astronauts.
In comparison to data for the general population who have travelled to space, the researchers discovered a higher incidence of somatic mutations in the genes of the 14 astronauts