Paper Session III-B - Adaption to Space and the Development of Human Behavior

Space exploration offers an unprecedented opportunity to study the evolution of bipedalism, the use of two feet as the primary method of locomotion. Among mammals, this adaptation is uniquely human (Wilson:52). Bipedalism is impossible in the weightlessness of space, and astronauts have had to adapt other means of locomotion. A better understanding of human adaptation to weightlessness may offer insight to the human evolution of bipedalism. Bipedalism and weightlessness have resulted in physical as well as behavioral changes. In bipedalism, the weight of the body shifted from four to two legs and feet, transmitting the load vertically through the spinal column. Evolutionary changes occurred in the legs, knees, pelvis, feet, and spine. Weightlessness unloads these weight-bearing bones and astronauts have been observed to experience bone mass loss after exposure to weightlessness. This paper will examine human adaptation to space for indications of hominid evolution to bipedalism