As well all know space travel is very expensive, not only that, it is also a very dangerous task. Let’s say that if humans have to send to Mars, scientists should aware that the effects that living in space pose to the human body. The first hazard of a human mission to Mars is also the most difficult to visualize because, well, space radiation is invisible to the human eye. Radiation is not only stealthy. Astronauts have to deal with so many issues, Sleep loss, circadian desynchronization, and work overload compound this issue and may lead to performance decrements, adverse health outcomes, and compromised mission objectives. On Mars, astronauts would need to live and work in three-eighths of Earth’s gravitational pull for up to two years. Additionally, on the six-month trek between the planets, explorers will experience total weightlessness.
NASA has already gone beyond simply identifying challenges of human spaceflight to facilitate a focused and organized effort to reach Mars. Therefore, NASA and ESA teamed to study how the body adapts to weightlessness. The space agencies stated that they are looking for two dozen volunteers to spend 60 days laying down to help scientists understand how space travel will impact astronauts. The members will be paid 16,500 euros (more than $18,500) and will have to travel to Cologne, Germany.
More info: NASA
24 selected participants will travel to the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) to stay in bed for two months
These are the requirements for the volunteers, they must be between the age of 24 and 55, must have a good health condition and speak German. This research will start in September and It will take up a total of 89 days, as, before their time in bed, the participants will be given five days of familiarization. After completing the 60 days bed-bound study, they will have to do 14 days of rehabilitation, the same as the real astronauts do.
Out of 89 days of the experiment, 60 of them will have to be spent in bed
While in the bed rest period, they will be required to everything while lying down from eating to going to the bathroom. Participants can watch television and also will be given reading material and other activities, while the organizers of the study are strongly encouraging people to do online courses and learn new things. During their rest, the volunteers will lay down with their legs slightly higher than heads in order to reduce blood flow to the extremities. This will impose muscle deterioration, akin to that experienced by real astronauts in space.
Volunteers will be split into two groups
One half will visit a centrifuge in a laboratory from time to time. The centrifuge acts as an artificial gravity chamber, as its spinning rig simulates gravity, pushing blood toward the participants’ lower extremities. This will assist scientists to see whether the simulator was in any way helpful of minimizing the effects of lying down in one position for a prolonged period of time.
During the research, the newly introduced DLR Short-Arm Centrifuge will be used
The new Short-Arm Centrifuge simulates and studies the effects of artificial gravity on the human body. However, not only astronauts and space travelers will benefit from the research, but people experiencing terrestrial health issues. When using the human centrifugal tool, the study will give more ideas into osteoporosis, muscular atrophy, and cardiovascular diseases.
Throughout the study, the participants will be under the scrutiny of scientists
The bed rest experiment is focused to stimulate the effects of microgravity on the human’s body. When a prolonged period of time is spent in space, the muscles weaken, bones become less dense and blood flows inversely throughout the body. To combat these side effects, regular exercise is used, however, scientists expect that artificial gravity can verify to be even more advantageous.
A team of medical, psychotherapeutic, scientific professionals and a nutritionist will be on site
The nutritionist will plan the meals of the participants. Food will be ready with no flavors and artificial sweeteners, while at the same time balanced enough to ensure sufficient nutritional value. However, to satisfy the sweet tooth, desserts will also be given, but only infrequently.
Some people loved the idea, while the others were not as enthusiastic
I am a Business Management graduate from the University Of Staffordshire (UK) and a qualified personnel officer who completed the National Diploma of Training and Human Resource development at Institute of Personnel Management (Sri-Lanka).
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