Space Age Muscle


August 24, 2006










Astronaut Leroy Chiao using the IRED




Hold onto Your Muscle








Wish You Could Stay in Bed All Day?

Dr. Cavanagh's team is conducting a bedrest study with two groups of people, half of whom remain bedridden for 12 weeks with no exercise, and half of whom are also bedridden, but are required to perform a set amount of exercise (equal to the amount of movement they would do on a regular day) on an elevated treadmill, called the Enhanced Zero-gravity Locomotion Simulator. The treadmill is mounted high up on a wall in a sideways position, in order to simulate an anti-gravity environment.


Enhanced Zero-gravity Locomotion Simulator


Those who are bedridden can't stand up at all during the entire 12 weeks, so they keep busy by reading, knitting, and blogging for the Stardust Holiday blog, where they can record their thoughts about the experiment each day. The information discovered through this research will give us a better understanding of the importance of exercise in the maintenance of bone strength and the prevention of bone disease among humans living on Earth, says Dr. Cavanagh. 


Cavanagh's team is also working to establish more efficient ways to incorporate exercise methods into shuttle architecture. The Atlantis shuttle does not have enough space for major exercise equipment, other than the bike. "Space for exercise equipment is severely limited to the amount of a cubic foot," Dr. Cavanagh says. "We're looking for new forms of exercise, including having crew members work against each other." They also hope to use jumping techniques to strengthen bones. This is especially important for future missions to Mars, for which it will take 6-9 months of shuttle travel time just to arrive to the surface.


NASA is also experimenting with ways to create artificial gravity, and how to use a vacuum pull system to generate resistance.


Space Food

Along with muscle loss advances, comes culinary progress. Food plays an important role in maintaining strength, as crewmembers need to eat a certain amount of protein each day to hold onto muscle. But to eat the food, they have to like it.  


Space food of today has come a long way since the first astronaut squeezed pureed food out of toothpaste-like tubes. "When we first started to think about food in space, we weren’t even sure the crew would be able to swallow in weightlessness," says Michele Perchonok, Ph. D., the advanced food system lead for NASA and the Johnson Space Center. But now food scientists offer over 200 food items, including beef enchiladas, mashed potatoes, and chocolate cake -- that are more like the foods we eat on Earth.


Last month, Emeril Lagasse adapted 5 dishes for the crew at the International Space Station, including Mardi Gras Jambalaya and Kicked-Up Bacon and Cheese Mashed Potatoes, which were freeze-dried and packaged in airtight pouches. All the astronauts have to do is add a little water to the pouches and heat them using a special device, and the food returns to its normal texture.


"After you've been up there for two weeks, you get used to it, and the food becomes very delicious," Chiao says. "It really is good."