Hisham Sarwar
It may sound like a dream job to people who just want to lie in bed, eat, and sleep without even having to get up any other chores. NASA and the European Space Agency are offering an odd job, According to CNN, space scientists are looking for women who are willing to stay in bed for 60 days. For this job, they promise to pay the person a handsome amount of money.
This is actually an experiment to find out if artificial gravity may help keep astronauts healthy during space missions. The reward for becoming a part of this experiment is 16.500 euros or about $18,522. This experiment is being conducted because when astronauts are in space, weightlessness caused by microgravity brings a change in their body. As physical stress reduces in space, it causes their muscles and bones to break down.
This shifts the body fluids towards their head. Scientists hope to develop methods to counteract the impacts of weightlessness by simulating its effects with bed rest. In this way, the astronauts will not have to spend most of their days on the space station doing exercise. For this purpose, the researchers have already created a short-arm human centrifuge that will generate artificial gravity and will correct the distribution of body fluids. Each day, they are planning to test it out on two-thirds of the study participants.
According to the executive member for space research and technology Hansjorg Dittus, the crewed spaceflight will continue to be of importance in the future to carry out the experiments in microgravity. But, it should be made as safer for astronauts as it possibly can be.
For the experiment, the participants will be required to perform all activities while lying down in the bed including eating, showering, and even going to the washroom. A private room will be given to each participant and will be required to stay in bed inclined at 6 with the head end downwards.
A team of nutritionists will develop a meal plan so that the participants do not gain weight but get all the necessary nutrients. But the meals are not going to be extra healthy as stated by the German Aerospace Center and it may sometimes include pancakes or other sweet treats. The first group consisting of 24 participants i.e. twelve men and twelve women will begin on Tuesday. But it is not yet clear how many participants will be required for the second round of the experiment.
For the experiment, healthy women between the age of 24 and 55 years are needed who should be non-smokers and must be able to communicate in the German language.
