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Some courageous people will soon lie down for science – and they will not get up very long.
A 60-day study on bed rest funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA begins in Cologne, Germany on Monday, March 25. Eight men and four women volunteers will take place in the facilities of the German aerospace center: envihab, to help scientists better understand how space flight affects the human body. Scientists have described this study experience of bed rest by artificial gravity, according to German space officials.
(Bed rest is a common research tool in the manned space flight community and can lead to muscle atrophy and bone loss, as can extended stays in microgravity.)
Related: The human body in space: 6 strange facts
If you think this sounds like a dream concert, you may want to reconsider your decision. For starters, there is no place to sit down; each volunteer must keep at least one shoulder in contact with the mattress at all times. And the head of the beds will be tilted 6 degrees below the horizontal, so that blood flows from the legs of the participants, said ESA officials.
In addition, the poor people will be regularly immersed in a centrifuge and centrifuged to push the blood towards their extremities.
A bed for the study of rest in the facilities of the German Aerospace Center: Envihab in Cologne, Germany.
(Image: © ESA)
The centrifugation bit is an attempt to evaluate the real potential of artificial gravity – a long-running sci-fi trope – to fight against the worst effects of weightlessness.
This will be ESA's first long-term study on bed rest to be employed: the Envihab Short-Arm Centrifuge, and the first conducted in collaboration with NASA, announced officials of the 39; ESA.
Close-up view of a monitor in the control room of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) short-arm centrifuge, which the European Space Agency and NASA will use to study the effects of artificial gravity on the body human during long-term space travel.
(Image: © European Space Agency)
The researchers will carry out various experiments during the study. they will measure participants' cardiovascular and cognitive performance, balance and muscle strength, among other factors. These data will help ESA, NASA and their partners to prepare for crewed excursions to the Moon, Mars and other far-flung destinations, said members of the International Space Agency. project team.
"For these missions to be possible, it is important to minimize the health risks of astronauts," said ESA research team leader Jennifer Ngo-Anh. said in a statement. "This study allows us to address the problem of muscle atrophy caused by weightlessness, but also other stressors such as cosmic radiation, isolation and the spatial restrictions. "
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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