A study of 14 astronauts suggests that while space travel depletes red blood cells and bone, the body can eventually replenish them back on Earth with the help of fat stored in the bone marrow. The study, published in Nature Communications, has important implications for health in space and on Earth.

"We found that astronauts had significantly less fat in their bone marrow about a month after returning to Earth," said senior study author Dr. Guy Trudel, a rehabilitation physician and researcher at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. "We think the body is using this fat to help replace red blood cells and rebuild bone that has been lost during space travel."

This study builds on Dr.

The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.

Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.

According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface", Roscosmos said.

"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful."

The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.

With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna program, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.

The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on the lunar south pole, the first in history.

Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union's ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.