![]() ![]() “They warned me about it, but I didn’t give it much credence, because I thought, ‘you’re lying down, how hard can it be?’ But you get a blood rush to the head, so my teeth were throbbing and I had a headache.” During the 90-day bed rest study, participants do everything in bed, from showering to eating to socializing with other participants. “When they put you in the head-down position, it kind of messes with the inner ear and your equilibrium,” Archuletta said. She said the first week of being in bed is the hardest part of the study. Almost everything that happens in space they can do with tilting the bed. You get a little bit of muscle atrophy and some bone mineral loss, and they see the same exact lowering in plasma volume and lower heart rate. “You wouldn’t think that something as simple as tilting the body would mimic what astronauts experience, but it affects your vestibular system the same way and you get the same exact fluid shift where all the blood pools in your head. “It seems people think only guys can do these studies, so it seems harder to get women.”Īrchuletta, who is also known as the “Pillow-naut” from her blog about her experiences, Pillow Astronaut, said amazingly, the studies simulate very well what astronauts experience in space. “I know they desperately need more healthy females,” Archuletta said. “For example, a participant who completed a 60-day study was paid approximately $13,800.” “Participants are compensated for their time and expenses,” said Foster. The Lunar Analog Feasibility Study is a 21-day study to demonstrate if it is possible to simulate 1/6 G lunar gravity using bed rest. Credit: NASAįor the bed rest study, participants are placed in bed with the head of the bed tilted down at a minus-six-degree incline. The studies will be conducted over the next ten years, and currently, NASA is looking to fill spots in 87-day bed rest studies and a lunar analog feasibility study. NASA is planning a series of studies that support the scientific needs of the space program. “If they can find a way around bone demineralization, wow, that would really boost the possibilities for human spaceflight.” ![]() ![]() “This is one of NASA’s biggest barriers for sending humans to Mars,” Archuletta told Universe Today. “This is a great opportunity for the general public to help NASA with their scientific research,” said John Foster, who works for Solitaire Creative Services, a company that promotes the studies. These ongoing studies use long-term bed rest to simulate the effects of micro-gravity an astronaut would experience during extended space flight. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” said Heather Archuletta, who has participated in three different studies for the Human Test Subject Facility (HTSF) at the Johnson Space Center. But other stresses such as cosmic radiation, isolation, spatial restrictions and other issues are on our research agenda as well," said Jennifer Ngo-Anh, team leader in Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA.If you don’t quite have the right stuff, but always thought being an astronaut would be cool, here’s a way for you to contribute to the US space program. "AGBRESA allows us to address the issue of muscular atrophy caused by weightlessness. These findings will later be validated on the ISS," Vega said. "Although the effects of weightlessness are primarily investigated on the International Space Station, analogues such as :envihab are helpful when studying certain research topics under controlled conditions on Earth. "Both effects are similar to what astronauts experience in space," said Leticia Vega, Associate Chief Scientist for International Collaborations for NASA's Human Research Program. This will simulate the displacement of bodily fluids experienced by astronauts in a microgravity environment. The beds are angled downwards towards the head end by six degrees. The participants will be restricted in their movements, so that the strain on muscles, tendons and the skeletal system is reduced. ![]()
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