A team of scientists is offering nearly $19,000 to women who are willing to spend 60 days confined to a bed. They are looking for 24 participants who will do everything, including eating, showering, and getting dressed while laying in a bed. The team of scientists, which includes researchers from NASA, the German Aerospace Agency, and the European Space Agency, are trying to find ways to reduce the negative impacts of weightlessness on astronauts.
Currently, astronauts spend much of their free time in space exercising to strengthen their muscles and bones, which are weakened due to the lack of gravity.
The volunteers will be split into two groups, with one group laying stationary for the entire 60 days, while the second group will be rotated around a centrifuge which is designed to simulate the effects of gravity on the human body.
"Crewed spaceflight will continue to be important in the future in order to carry out experiments in microgravity, but we must make it as safe as possible for the astronauts," says Hansjörg Dittus, DLR Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology. “This bed rest study conducted by DLR, NASA and ESA offers space researchers from all over Europe and the USA the opportunity to work together and jointly acquire as much scientific knowledge about human physiology as possible."
Photo: German Aerospace Center