Nasa is paying volunteers £14,000 to watch TV in bed for two months – to test ‘benefits of artificial gravity’
They have a TV, reading material and other leisure activities to keep them from getting bored
NASA is paying people £14,000 to lounge in bed and watch telly all day.
Participants will lie in specialised cots for two months to test how spaceflight affects the human body.
Applications close on May 24, with tests beginning in September – though you'll need to speak German to take part.
Volunteers will have a TV, reading material and other leisure activities to keep them from getting bored, but there's a catch.
You'll have to do everything – from eating to going to the loo – lying down.
Nasa is running the study with the European Space Agency (ESA) at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
ESA said the study would help it find out how "weightlessness, cosmic radiation, isolation and spatial restrictions" affect astronauts.
In particular, the research will look at the muscle wasting that occurs when astronauts spend a long time in space.
Currently, people aboard the International Space Station must exercise regularly with resistance machines to protect themselves from wasting.
Scientists will test whether daily sessions inside an artificial gravity chamber could be used to stop deterioration on long distance missions to Mars and beyond.
"The use of artificial gravity might be the best solution for human health protection during human long-duration deep space missions," lead scientist Dr Edwin Mulder, from the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine, told The Sun.
In total, 24 volunteers will be put through 60 days of bed rest at a test facility in Cologne.
As well as leisure time, the study’s organisers recommend using the free days to take online courses or learn new skills.
Participants are propped at a slight incline with their legs slightly higher than their heads to reduce blood flow to the extremities.
This mimics the effects of microgravity, causing numbness and muscle wasting.
Half of the volunteers will make intermittent trips to a centrifuge in a laboratory, and will be spun around for a short period of time.
EFFECTS OF LONG TERM SPACE TRAVEL
Here are some of the health impacts...
Muscle wasting: Spending long periods of time without using your muscles causes your body to begin breaking them down
Loss of bone density: Ditto for your bones, which become more brittle during long periods in space
Radiation poisoning: You're exposed to much more cosmic radiation without the protection of Earth's ozone layer
Loneliness: Spending long periods away from friends and family can make astronauts feel isolated and lonely
Volunteers will be spun at speeds of around 30 revs per minute for up to half an hour per session, Dr Mulder said.
This will push blood back toward the their extremities, much like an artificial gravity chamber would.
Once the study is over, experts will check over each participant to see if the technique reduced muscle wasting.
Scientists hope to apply the findings to help astronauts on future long-term space missions.
Unfortunately, you'll need to speak German to apply.
The research will last a total of 89 days. Volunteers went through five days of familiarisation before they got into bed, and and upon completion of the 60 days will undergo 14 days of rest and rehabilitation.
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