Long periods spent in space can impair sensory perceptions and motor reactions. This study hopes to tackle those challenges so missions aren't jeopardised.
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The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is looking for 12 candidates to spend 60 days in bed for its study in collaboration with NASA.
Candidates who complete the two-month programme will be paid €18,000.
Scheduled to begin in autumn 2024, the bed rest study requires participants to spend a total of 88 days, which include preparation and follow-up, at the DLR’s medical research facility :envihab in Cologne.
The study aims to reproduce conditions in which astronauts may find themselves in space in order to avoid "dizziness, stumbling and other issues with coordination" from jeopardising a mission.
"The participants do not just lie in bed for 60 days. The bed is also tilted six degrees head down. This means that the head is lower than the feet," declared Edwin Mulder, head of the study at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine.
Long periods spent in space can impair sensory perceptions, such as hearing, and motor reactions like walking, according to the space agency.
DLR are looking for individuals aged 24 to 55, with a height of 1.53 to 1.90m and a BMI of 18 to 30. Applicants should be in good health, be non-smokers, and "have a good command of German".
The selection process starts with an online application and is done over several stages, including "an information session, psychological assessments, telephone interviews, preliminary medical evaluations in Cologne, an assessment day, and ultimately, inclusion in the study".
Participants will be divided into four groups to measure the impact that different treatments, such as strength and endurance training, can have on them.
While one group will have their feet strapped "to a tilting board so that they have the impression that they are standing," another one will simply be lying on the "gravity beds" designed to give the impression of floating and have no "countermeasure activities".
Participants are expected to carry out daily activities including personal hygiene, going to the toilet, and eating while lying down.
While these "terrestrial astronauts," as DLR calls them, will be in single rooms, they can be rolled into a communal room to enjoy "shared activities such as board games or watching television".
"DLR has been conducting bed rest studies since the 1980s. We know that participating is no small feat, but a genuine challenge," said Mulder.
