The European Space Agency (ESA) is paying volunteers Rs 4.72 lakh (5,000 euros) for a 10-day study that requires them to do nothing but just lie down, albeit with a twist. The premier space agency on Thursday (Mar 13) informed that its third and final campaign for the Vivaldi experiment was underway at the Medes space clinic in Toulouse, France. In the experiment, volunteers have been asked to lie down on a waterbed for 10 days as part of a pioneering dry immersion study to recreate “some of the effects of spaceflight on the body”.
“During Vivaldi III, 10 volunteers lie down in containers similar to bathtubs covered with a waterproof fabric. This keeps them dry and evenly suspended in water,” ESA said.
“Submerged to above the torso and keeping arms and head above water, participants experience a sensation of floating without physical support – something close to what astronauts feel while on the International Space Station.”
For bathroom breaks, volunteers are temporarily transferred to a trolley so that their laid-back position is maintained at all times. As for meals, the volunteers are provided a floating board and a neck pillow. Though the entire exercise may sound lonely, the participants are allowed to carry their phones which they can use to contact their loved ones.
After 10 days, volunteers will have to undergo five days of post-weightlessness simulation measurements and recovery. Additionally, they will have to report for a follow-up visit, 10 days after getting up.
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Human body’s reaction
The experiment is designed to understand the body’s adaption mechanism to the space environment, prepare for spaceflight and develop preventive measures to best ensure the health and performance of astronauts.
Apart from the dry-immersion test, a 10-day head-down bed rest phase experiment is also being run in parallel by the scientists, involving 10 male participants.
“By extending the duration of dry immersion and comparing it to bed rest, we are refining our understanding of how these analogues simulate life in space, the different physiological effects and how they complement each other,” says Ann-Kathrin Vlacil, team leader for enabling science in human exploration at ESA.
The recruitment of volunteers for Vivaldi III started last year with only men aged 20 to 40 eligible for the experiment. They also needed to measure between 1.65m and 1.80m with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 20 and 26 and no allergies or dietary restrictions.