The base, called Mars Dune Alpha, is designed to simulate the challenges that will be faced by the first people on the actual planet
Ever dreamed of a job that involves lying in bed all day and still getting paid? Well, the European Space Agency (ESA) is offering 12 volunteers the chance to do just that.
As part of a new study, the ESA will be paying a select group of volunteers £15,600 to spend two months lying in bed, in order to monitor the changes the human body experiences in space, and develop potential measures to counteract them.
Participants will spend 60 days in beds tilted 6° below the horizontal with their feet up – meals, showers and toilet breaks included.
The job may not be as pleasant as it sounds, however – as part of the study, volunteers will also face cycling, spinning and constant medical tests, all with one shoulder always touching the mattress. According to the ESA, the job will be "a challenging experience for the sake of human space exploration."
Astronauts face similar physiological problems as elderly and bedridden patients on Earth. Long stays in orbit affect their muscles and bones.
As blood flows to the head and muscle is lost from underuse, researchers are charting how the bodies of the participants react.
This is also the first time cycling is part of a bedrest study in Europe. “We hope to understand the added value of artificial gravity to the fitness routine astronauts follow on the International Space Station. The crew exercise two hours per day in orbit,” says Angelique Van Ombergen, ESA lead for life sciences at Human and Robotic Exploration.
The benefit of artifical gravity, the ESA says, is that it acts on all human organs at once. “It could become an effective solution for a healthier body during long-duration space missions, if the technological challenges can be overcome,” adds Van Ombergen.
ALSO READ:
The base, called Mars Dune Alpha, is designed to simulate the challenges that will be faced by the first people on the actual planet
Out of a pool of 4,305 applicants, Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla were selected to undergo training at Nasa
Ingenuity logged 72 flights over three years, accumulating more than two hours of flight time, travelling 18km — more than 14 times farther than planned
It includes 180 days of research work across four phases with Emirati crew commencing participation in Phase 2
As part of the mission, UAE's space engineers will build a 10-tonne 'Crew and Science' airlock, the entry and exit point for astronauts on the Gateway
The agency's engineers are attempting to re-establish communications with Ingenuity
The rendezvous came about 37 hours after the Axiom quartet's Thursday evening lift-off in a rocketship from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon makes Japan the fifth nation to achieve a soft landing