--- title: Japanese Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading Fake News Story description: The astronaut thought he had grown over 3.5 inches during his time in space, but it was simply a miscalculation canonical: https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-10T16:49:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:49:41.543Z og:title: Japanese Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading Fake News Story og:description: The astronaut thought he had a growth spurt in space, but it was fake news og:url: https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7eef8eb51808ca67/6988f7c9096a94864b6a10b9/gettyimages-893969574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3004 og:image:height: 1690 og:image:alt: KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIA-US-JAPAN-SPACE-ISS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Japanese Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading Fake News Story twitter:description: The astronaut thought he had a growth spurt in space, but it was fake news twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7eef8eb51808ca67/6988f7c9096a94864b6a10b9/gettyimages-893969574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading 'Fake News' About Growing Taller in Space > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 10, 2018 4:49 PM UTC  Member of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 53/54, Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), waves during a send-off ceremony at the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on December 17, 2017\. NASA astronaut Scott Tingle and crewmates Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency were expected to lift off in the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images) Member of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 53/54, Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), waves during a send-off ceremony at the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on December 17, 2017\. NASA astronaut Scott Tingle and crewmates Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency were expected to lift off in the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. / AFP PHOTO / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV—AFP/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 10, 2018 4:49 PM UTC When Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai returned to Earth from a stint on the International Space Station (ISS), he claimed he had grown 9 cm (3.5 inches) during his time in orbit. Turns out, the only thing that may have grown was his nose and the space-based tall tale teller is now apologizing for spreading so-called fake news. It all started when Kanai tweeted that during his time aboard the ISS, he had grown: “We had our bodies measured after reaching [space](http://time.com/5096628/spacex-zuma-northrup-grumman/?iid=sr-link1), and wow, wow, wow, I had actually grown by as much as 9 centimetres (3.5 inches)!” “I have grown like a plant in just three weeks,” he said, adding that he was “a bit worried” about fitting in his seat on the Soyuz spacecraft for his journey back to Earth. The news prompted an outpouring of [responses on social media](https://www.yahoo.com/news/boldly-grow-japan-astronaut-worried-space-growth-spurt-013108973.html), mostly from those with short stature anxious to add a few inches of their own, and eventually made headlines on news sites, [including the BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42618786?sf178759288=1). [Astronauts](http://time.com/5091225/john-young-astronaut-dead/?iid=sr-link10)’ spines can temporarily extend in the zero-gravity environment of [space](http://time.com/5087803/winter-storm-grayson-from-space/?iid=sr-link5), making them slightly taller until they return to terra firma, but Kanai’s growth spurt seemed unusual. A colleague reportedly suggested he re-measure himself. Turns out he had only grown two centimeters (less than one inch). As [Reuters reports](https://www.yahoo.com/news/japanese-astronaut-apologizes-fake-news-height-increase-032008416.html), Kanai returned to Twitter a shorter man, full of apologies for spreading what he described as “fake news”. Kanai tweeted, “This mis-measurement appears to have become a big deal, so I must apologize for this terrible fake news.” > [](https://twitter.com/Astro%5FKanai/status/949400117882310658) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/"},"headline":"Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading 'Fake News' About Growing Taller in Space","datePublished":"2018-01-10T16:49:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:49:41.543Z","description":"The astronaut thought he had a growth spurt in space, but it was fake news","url":"https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Space","viral","Japan","Astronaut","fake news"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7eef8eb51808ca67/6988f7c9096a94864b6a10b9/gettyimages-893969574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7eef8eb51808ca67/6988f7c9096a94864b6a10b9/gettyimages-893969574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIA-US-JAPAN-SPACE-ISS","caption":"KAZAKHSTAN-RUSSIA-US-JAPAN-SPACE-ISS","creditText":"KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5097011/astronaut-apologizes-for-spreading-fake-news-about-growing-taller-in-space/","name":"Astronaut Apologizes for Spreading 'Fake News' About Growing Taller in Space"}}]}] ```