Researchers will monitor them the entire time

Aug 28, 2015 21:29 GMT  ·  By

In an attempt to recreate the effects of spaceflight on the human body, researchers with the European Space Agency plan to have 12 volunteers, all men, spend a total of 60 days simply lying in bed. 

The experiment is set to debut this coming September 9, when the first study participants will assume position in the carefully calibrated beds that will be their home for many weeks to come.

The investigation will be carried out at the German Aerospace Center's Envihab facility in Cologne, Germany, where scientists will get to control the temperature, the air humidity, and even how much daylight the volunteers are exposed to throughout the duration of the study.

What does lying in bed have to do with space exploration?

Journeys to distant orbs are, at least for now, purely hypothetical talk. Nonetheless, scientists worry that, when such space adventures do eventually come to happen, astronauts' bones and muscles will lose strength due to underuse.

To solve this conundrum, researchers must first reach a better understanding of how limited physical activity affects the human body. This is where studies like the one to be carried out at the German Aerospace Center's Envihab facility come into play.

The idea is that being bedridden is much like being stuck in a spacecraft, with not all that much room to move about and exercise the body. Hence, studying bedridden folks should hint at how the human body might be affected by spaceflight.

“Similar to bedridden people on Earth, astronauts in space suffer as their bones and muscles lose strength from underuse,” specialists with the European Space Agency explain.

“The participants must be as healthy as a typical astronaut, but also willing and able to remove themselves from their daily lives for 60 days. Their motivation is often to further science and do their part for future space exploration,” they add.

The volunteers will be closely monitored the entire time

The 12 men who have agreed to take part in this latest study on the potential effects of spaceflight on the human body will have virtually no privacy during the 60 days that they will spend in bed. Not to mention that, contrary to what some might assume, they won't be all that comfortable either.

For starters, scientists will monitor them the entire time. Then, their beds won't be arranged in the regular, horizontal position. Rather, the study participants will be lying at an inclination of 6 degrees, with their head lower than the rest of their body.

The researchers who will be keeping tabs on them will focus on aspects like bone loss, how the brain responds to this unnatural position, the cardiovascular system and especially blood flow. Whatever physiological changes will be closely documented.

Apart from recording how the volunteers will respond to their prolonged stay in bed, scientists will attempt to counter some of the effects they expect will arise. For instance, they will test whether a horizontal jumping exercise might help prevent or at least limit muscle and bone loss.

To make sure the results are accurate, the study participants will have their overall health assessed not just during the study but also a couple of weeks after the experiment ends.

The Envihab facility
The Envihab facility

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Volunteers ready to spend 60 days in bed, all for science
The Envihab facility
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