How Lying In Bed For 60 Days Helps Astronauts

NASA's Curious Universe

Katie Konans

Science

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In space, microgravity changes the body. Body fluids shift from the legs toward the head, the back of our eyes flatten, we lose muscle strength, our bones lose some of their density, and even the amount of blood pumped by the heart with each beat drops. To learn more about how microgravity affects the human body and develop new ways to help astronauts stay healthy, scientists are asking dozens of volunteers to spend 60 days in bed with their heads tilted down at a specific angle. This research approach tricks the body into reacting very similarly to how it would if a person was aboard the International Space Station for a longer-term mission. Join Andreas Joshi, a volunteer who agreed to be part of this bedrest work, and two NASA scientists leading the study. They’re investigating different ways to combat space-based muscle loss and improve astronauts’ sense of balance by, among other things, teaching volunteers like Joshi to play video games with their feet.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to NASA's Curious Universe, a show full of wild, wonderful adventures,
0:09.1	from Earth all the way across the universe.
0:12.5	I'm your host, Jacob Pinter.
0:14.7	You know, behind every NASA space mission, there's a ton of work on the ground to get ready.
0:20.2	Scientists and engineers are constantly testing and researching everything they can think of
0:25.2	to make sure missions go smoothly.
0:27.6	And when those missions have a crew aboard, that means making sure humans stay safe.
0:33.1	Today, we've got a story about some of the work NASA does here on the ground.
0:37.7	And to help us tell it, we've got Dina Fine Marin.
0:40.5	Hey, Dina, and welcome to Curious Universe.
0:43.2	Hey, Jacob.
0:44.1	I'm happy to be here, and greetings from NASA's human research program.
0:47.9	A team focused on studying how humans can live and work in space.
0:52.2	It's based in Houston at the Johnson Space Center. Today, I want to talk to you
0:56.7	about how NASA scientists are examining how the microgravity environment in space affects the human
1:01.9	body. They're studying it in a really surprising way, right here on Earth. Last year, about a dozen
1:09.1	volunteers agreed to pause their normal lives and lie in bed, with
1:12.7	their heads tilted slightly downward for 60 days.
1:16.2	This work will continue over the next few years with several more groups of volunteers.
1:21.3	But when you examine what these volunteers are doing, it's pretty wild.
1:25.2	They lie in a tilted position where it feels like their heads are slipping towards
1:28.3	their headboards for almost two months.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Katie Konans, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Katie Konans and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.