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The gym made for SPACE: Human centrifuge could prevent bone and muscle decay in Mars-bound astronauts

Research was by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
They developed an exercise bike that spins in a cylinder
One rotation every two seconds would simulate Earth's gravity
It could be used on the ISS or even a future mission to Mars

Published: 10:29 EST, 2 July 2015 | Updated: 11:17 EST, 2 July 2015

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Researchers have developed a machine to simulate the effects of Earth’s gravity in space to alleviate the problems of space travel.

Astronauts who spend a long time in the micro-gravity environment of space can experience muscle deteoriation, bone loss and other harmful effects on their body.

But using a special type of centrifuge, researchers say these problems could be minimised - ensuring astronauts on a future mission to Mars, for example, arrive fit and healthy.

Their system, illustrated here, would have three main elements: a chair, pedals and sensors. The equipment is enclosed within a cylinder that is 7.9ft (2.4 metres) across. The chair can then be rotated round the cylinder, to ‘push’ the astronaut back into the chair

The technology was developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It works around the concept of a centrifuge - a spinning contraption that exerts a force on a human occupant through its rotation.

Rotating at a specific speed will ‘push’ the astronaut back, in effect mimicking the force they would feel from Earth’s gravity.

HOW LONG WILL A MANNED MISSION TO MARS TAKE?

Owing to the orbits of Earth and Mars there are specific windows of opportunity when a mission can take place.

Our planets come as close to each other as 33.9 million miles (54.6 million km), but can be as distant as 250 million miles (400 million km).

For this reason, spacecraft to Mars, such as the Curiosity rover, have to launch in certain windows when the planets are aligned.

The next window is open from January 2016 to April 2016, and will see the launch of two more missions to the red planet.

For a future manned mission, they will need to launch out in one of the windows and return in one, which will take two years in total.

Just getting there will take about eight months. The astronauts will be there waiting for a year until they can come back - a total of almost three years.

But no human has spent more than 14 months continuously in space - so research is needed to see how the crew will cope with such a mission.

The MIT team's system would have three main elements: a chair, pedals and sensors.

The equipment is enclosed within a cylinder that is 7.9ft (2.4 metres) across. The chair can then be rotated round the cylinder, to push the astronaut back into the chair.

At a speed of 28 revolutions per minute, one roughly one every two seconds, they would be pushed back into the chair with a force equal to Earth’s gravity - 1G.

The astronauts will pedal as they spin, and the artificial gravity will mean they have to pedal harder, working their body more.

This will better counteract the effects of microgravity on the human body than the exercise equipment that is used in the weightless environment of the International Space Station.

Researcher Ana Diaz from MIT told MailOnline that the system could feasibly be employed on the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) on the ISS.

However, the rotations would cause some vibrations on the station, so ‘some sort of anti-vibration mechanism’ would be needed to deal with them.

‘This is already done with the other exercise machines in the ISS so, although the centrifuge has a higher level of complexity, this shouldn't be a problem,’ she added.

‘This type of compact-centrifuge design could be incorporated in future spacecraft as well.’

Centrifuges have been proposed for a future Mars-bound spacecraft, although admittedly much larger than this.

Previous concepts have imagined that part or all of the spacecraft would rotate, perhaps a doughnut-shaped ring around a central structure.

Any astronauts in this section would experience gravity just like on Earth.

A device made by MIT could be used to simulate artificial gravity in space. Astronauts would sit in a chair that rotates, experiencing a force equivalent to Earth's gravity. Pictured is Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang trying out the new centrifuge while MIT professor Larry Young coaches him on

Previous concepts, such as Nasa's Nautilus-X (artist's impression shown), would use a doughnut-shaped ring that spins to simulate artificial gravity. Astronauts would spend most of their time in this section for long-haul missions in space, such as to Mars, to keep their bodies fit and healthy

‘With exploration-class missions, like Mars, where you’re gone for three years, you could run the risk of having astronauts not sufficiently conditioned to perform effectively, and also to not be in good health when they finally get to the surface of Mars,’ said Professor Laurence Young of MIT.

‘You really don’t want to send a jellyfish to represent us on another planet.’

At the moment on the ISS, astronauts spend several hours each day performing exercise on various machines, such as a mechanical bicycle and weightlifting machine, to counteract the effects of microgravity on their bodies.

This endeavour costs a lot of time, although it is somewhat effective.

But instead of picking one solution over the other, the scientists instead decided to combine the two in their concept.

At the moment on the ISS, astronauts must spend several hours a day exercising in order to stay in shape. Shown is Dutch Esa astronaut Andre Kuipers (foreground) using the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (Colbert) in the Tranquility node of the ISS on 19 June 2012

A future mission to Mars (artist's impression shown) will likely take three years in total, including eight months of travel there, and eight months back. Several proposals are currently being considered to ensure that the astronauts are not too weak when they arrive at the red planet or return to Earth

To test their idea, they built a replica for use on Earth in the laboratory.

In experiments, the team found that people pedalled harder when they were spinning than when they were stationary.

This is good, according to Diaz, as it helps to ‘generate more bone’ due to the higher foot forces.

‘Even if we expected this, we were able to quantify it and find a relationship between foot forces and artificial gravity,’ Diaz added.

The artificial gravity also increased the participants cardiovascular activity, which could be beneficial over the long term.

A human centrifuge on a Mars-bound spacecraft would help keep astronauts in shape over the eight months or so it would take to get to the red planet.

The research was published in the journal Acta Astronautica.