Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

The subjects must strictly adhere to the bedrest – one shoulder must remain on the mattress at all times.
Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).

A German research facility is home for a bedrest study – an effort to learn how to minimize the negative effects of microgravity on their bodies.

The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) “:envihab” research facility is set to evaluate a dozen men, aged 20 to 45 years old. The study is being carried out by DLR on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Their beds will be tilted at an angle of six degrees below the horizontal. Doing so results in their bodily fluids shifting towards the upper body. Bones and muscles in their lower part of their bodies lose strength as a result of the lack of movement.

The intention of the study is to investigate, among other things, whether exercise could serve as more suitable countermeasures to microgravity. Subjects will be confined to bedrest for two months with two weeks of experimental investigations and tests.

Active look at inactivity

The test subjects in the group will be training five or six times per week primarily by making small, powerful jumps in a horizontal position – ‘reactive jumps’.

“A short course of training with strong muscular focus…there has never been anything of this kind in space before,” explains Edwin Mulder, leader of the study and a scientist at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in a press statement.

Roughly 90 experiments will be carried out, in addition to studying the effects of inactivity on bones and muscles during the two months spent in bed.

Also on tap for study are changes to the cardiovascular system, sense of balance, the eyes, thermo-regulation, as well as the autonomic nervous system.

The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine.
Credit: DLR

Follow-up exams

The test subjects will undergo regular examinations and tests. All test subjects will be examined and tested for an additional two weeks following their time in bedrest.

After their stay in envihab, the test subjects will participate in five follow-up examinations over the next two years.

The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine is a one-of-a-kind, highly sophisticated medical research facility in Cologne. A one-story, 3500-square-meter, state-of-the-art space, :envihab (from the words “Environment” and “Habitat”) is used to explore the effects of extreme environmental conditions on humans and to determine possible countermeasures.