For the NASA experiment, volunteers will spend a month in bed, without even getting up to drink water. You will have to lie with your head down.
Of the twelve, two have already started the test: the volunteers arrived at the laboratory: envihab of the German Aerospace Agency (DLR) and lay down on their beds, where they will lie without getting up for 30 days. You can take your smartphone and laptop with you, but it will be difficult. You will have to lie head downward with a six-degree slope, and the air in the “bedroom” cannot be called fresh: it contains 0.5% carbon dioxide (usually at the surface of the Earth it is not more than 0.04%).
All this takes place in the framework of NASA's analogue space missions: in order to study how a body behaves in a spacecraft, specialists create similar conditions on Earth. The upside-down position should recreate the microgravity effect where body fluids do not naturally flow downward. Astronauts on the ISS often suffer from this: excessive blood pressure on the brain leads to vision problems. The composition of the air is the same as on the space station: there the ventilation system fights with excess carbon dioxide, but there is still more of it than on Earth.
Before starting the experiment, volunteers undergo two weeks of medical examination and training. And then it's time to go to bed. There, participants will eat, drink and even shower. In order not to get bored, volunteers set certain goals for themselves. For example, learn a new language and take an online course in a month under the covers. All this time, doctors will monitor physiological indicators, including those that cannot be tracked by astronauts on the ISS - there, for example, you cannot do MRI, but you can do it in a German laboratory.
So far, most of the participants in the experiment are annoyed by a strict diet: no treats, only a certain amount of wholesome and nutritious food. Causes discomfort and loneliness. You can correspond with family and friends of volunteers, but you cannot receive visitors. The experiment simulates the conditions of a long space mission, including its effect on mood, and visits from friends and family can seriously affect it.
Ksenia Malysheva