Spend two months lying down helping out with space research: Volunteers agree to stay in bed under observation in Toulouse to recreate zero gravity – WATCH

Spend two months lying down to help with space research: volunteers have agreed to remain in bed under observation in Toulouse, in order to recreate zero gravity and thus contribute to improving the living conditions of the astronauts during their missions.

“We see ourselves getting skinnier day by day in the beginning,” smiles Matthew, one of the 12 men chosen for the experiment, who has been well-established for five weeks at Medics Clinic, a health facility affiliated with the National Center for Space Studies. (CNES).

The bed of these volunteers, who were chosen from 3,000 candidates and whose names were not reported, remains tilted for 60 days at an angle of -6 degrees, which is best able to reproduce the effects of weightlessness experienced by astronauts. during their stay in space.

“We have entered the phase of space exploration. We are really looking forward to going to the Moon and Mars, it is not a fantasy anymore, and it involves long-term flights for two to three years,” explains Audrey Bergignan, of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), to AFP.

“Microgravity exposure will affect all physiological systems (…) and cause changes that we are trying to understand and prevent,” defines this research director, before adding: “To prevent them, we put in place the protocols that we are testing here, before testing them in space.”