Articles for "Bedrest study"

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Space | 17. May 2019 | posted by Pierre-François Migeotte

AGBRESA - Cardiac deconditioning in astronauts

Credit: DLR
A participant in the MRI machine

During the AGBRESA study, we are studying the cardiac deconditioning that occurs during space flight. Together with colleagues from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Politecnico di Milano, and with the support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Belgian Science Policy Office, we are looking at the weakening of the heart, which can lead to an astronaut fainting upon returning to gravity after a long duration spaceflight. This is a big problem for space exploration and requires countermeasures to be implemented during such missions. Our study aims to evaluate whether artificial gravity, generated by short-arm centrifugation, could be a valid countermeasure for space exploration missions. read more

Space | 15. May 2019 | posted by Timo Frett

AGBRESA – you take everything with you into space, apart from gravity – training on the short-arm centrifuge

Credit: DLR
Alexandra Noppe, Timo Frett and Michael Arz from the DLR centrifuge team prepare a test participant for treatment

Strict bedrest and spinning – how do they fit together? Very easily – as a participant in the AGBRESA bed-rest study! The participants complete their training on the DLR short-arm human centrifuge every day during their 60 days of bedrest. read more

Space | 09. May 2019 | posted by Friederike Wütscher

AGBRESA – "In 'space', you have plenty of time, but no fuel station nearby" – docking training

Credit: DLR
DLR doctoral candidate Sarah Piechowski monitoring a test participant during docking training

Navigating a spacecraft through the endless expanse of the cosmos and performing difficult manoeuvres under adverse conditions to dock safely with the Space Station – what sounds like the childhood dream of any hobby astronaut is in fact a routine task for participants in the AGBRESA bed-rest study. Learning how to control a spacecraft with six degrees of freedom or 6df, to use the more usual term, is one of the numerous experiments that study participants are required to complete. The spaceflight, however, is carried out in a lying-down position in Cologne to be compatible with the requirements of the bed-rest study. By the time the study is over, the participants will each have completed 20 docking 'sessions' in total, acquiring the necessary skills to control a spacecraft and – if everything goes according to plan – dock it safely with the Space Station. read more

Space | 17. April 2019 | posted by Manuela Braun

AGBRESA – strict bed-rest for 60 days

Credit: DLR
The participants' beds are tilted six degrees downwards at the head end. This allows the negative effects of weightlessness in space to be induced on Earth.

With his head down and legs lifted upwards, Test Participant B is being rolled towards the centrifuge. Or rather, his bed is. He will not be allowed to stand up for the next two months. From his bed, Test Participant B mainly sees one thing as he travels the few metres from the test station to the centrifuge – the :envihab ceiling. The 5400-square-metre building has been home to ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst, Andreas Mogensen, Timothy Peake and Thomas Pesquet immediately following their missions, in order to study the effects of microgravity on the human body. Since 25 March 2019, the :envihab facility at the DLR site in Cologne has housed the test participants taking part in the AGBRESA (Artificial Gravity Bed Rest Study) project, a joint effort by NASA, ESA and DLR. All 12 of them have been lying in their beds since 14 April read more