Space headaches

*Living in zero gravity is pretty rough on the body. It doesn't surprise me that astronauts might get "explosive" migraines after blood leaves their lower legs, causing their heads to swell up (a situation known as "pumpkin head"). It does surprise me a little that I hadn't heard about this space headache syndrome till now. "Outer Space: Unpleasant and Debilitating!" You don't often see such slogans on a T-shirt.

*We'd probably learn a lot about space biology if they stopped launching athletes in top condition and filled the Space Station exclusively with fragile, hypochondriac whiners and complainers. Probably dozens of new, unknown medical syndromes would emerge spontaneously.

Almost three-quarters of astronauts suffer from headaches in space. Described by some as ‘exploding’, the headaches are unlike anything felt on Earth.