A review of the effects of microgravity and of hypergravity on aging and longevity11A previous version of this article appeared in the journal of the Institute of Gerontology of Ukraine; Problems of Aging and Longevity 6, 239–252, 1996; the present article is an updated version.

This article reviews the literature dealing with the effects of acute or chronic exposure to microgravity (spacecrafts) or hypergravity (centrifuge) on longevity and the aging process. Even if space flights are now common, the effects of these two kinds of environment on aging are still poorly documented, particularly in mammals. However, there is a growing interest for the use of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and this species may be now considered as a model organism in gravitational biology studies dealing with aging.