Scientists studied twin astronauts, one in space and one on Earth.

The astronaut in space had longer telomeres.

Telomeres help organisms deal with stress.

Researchers wanted to know how space affects plant telomeres.

Plants in space had more telomerase but didn't change size.

Scientists worked with NASA and others to study plants from space.

It was hard to prepare and study the space plant samples.

The plants in space surprised scientists because their telomeres didn't grow.

Telomerase in space plants had a big job, even without making telomeres longer.

More research will try to understand what else telomerase does in space plants.