German students had the first opportunity to speak to ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter as he completes the first week of his six-month stay onboard the International Space Station.

On Thursday 13 July, from 10:13 to 10:33 hours (CEST), Reiter, joined by two other ESA astronauts, took part in a satellite link-up with students from a local secondary school, at ESA's Columbus Control Centre on DLR premises in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. The students abled to put questions to the astronaut about his mission experiences so far, and they also saw their physics lessons put to the test in the microgravity environment of space.

The effect on the individual working in the confines of the self contained life support unit tethered to the ISS,? combined with the work load in that same environment.
The effect on your returning to mother Earth and her embracing Gravity,what effect on the body does this have in terms of the duration spent in space?