How Astronauts Stay Fit And Healthy In Space

Living in space presents unique challenges to the human body. Extended exposure to microgravity leads to various physical changes, such as symptoms akin to motion sickness, declining vision, and the accumulation of fluids in the upper body. While the sensation of weightlessness allows astronauts to float and move freely, it simultaneously contributes to muscle atrophy since their muscles are not engaged as they would be under Earth’s gravitational force.

To combat muscle and bone mass loss, astronauts must engage in daily exercise for about an hour. Understanding how to maintain human health in space is a central focus of research aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where numerous experiments are conducted to examine health and wellness in a microgravity environment.

Efforts to enhance health monitoring systems focus on minimizing disruption to astronauts’ work. The Bio-Monitor, a smart shirt designed by the Canadian Space Agency, is embedded with sensors that track vital signs, including heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and skin temperature. Accompanying it is a headband to monitor blood oxygen levels. Currently, the Bio-Monitor is being tested on the ISS, with aspirations for its future application in both astronaut health and various medical and sports domains on Earth.

Another intriguing project from the European Space Agency called Myotones features a compact device that assesses muscle stiffness. This device helps ensure astronaut exercise regimens effectively target all critical muscle groups, preventing muscle degradation.

Beyond physical health, astronauts’ cognitive functions and sensory perceptions are also affected by space travel. Monitoring these aspects is critical, which includes evaluations through tasks that test fine motor skills, like simulated flying or driving exercises. For instance, a simulated driving task necessitates that astronauts recognize and react to obstacles accurately while managing multiple cognitive demands. Practicing these simulated skills can improve their performance during actual operations, such as piloting a rover.

Additional investigations, such as VECTION, explore how microgravity influences motion perception. On Earth, we depend on our vestibular system for spatial awareness, but astronauts must adapt to navigate accurately in microgravity. This experiment employs head-mounted goggles to assess astronauts’ ability to judge factors like object height without gravitational cues.