The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topic
In February 2005, 24 women, all carefully selected volunteers, will remain in bed, with their head slightly tilted down, for as long as two month. Not being an astronaut, this is the closest one can get to experiencing the effects of long-term space missions in the organism and develop counter-measures that will help prevent the loss of bone mass, muscular atrophy or changes in the cardio-vascular system, All are necessary improvements, if the human machine is to match ESA plans for interplanetary travel and missions to Mars that could take ut pto 3 years.
This programme provides pre-event footage for this female bed rest study, including location recordings at the MEDES space clinic, soundbites with ESA and CNES experts and images of women on board the ISS.
No Gen 1. Digi Beta tape missing. Ingrid has 1 Gen 2 copy, but no original.
FEMALE BED REST STUDY PREVIEW
TC: 10 00 41
Smiling faces enjoying hard work in space. Everybody is well trained and in good health.
But we know from past missions that long-term exposure to weightlessness induces
physiological changes that strongly affect astronautsÕ health and performance. Maybe
because space is still largely male-dominated.. MEN have been the object of most
scientific studies on these phenomena. Little is known so far about how the female body
reacts to the prolonged absence of gravity. But that is about to changeÉ
TC: 10 01 16
At the end of February 2005, 24 women, all carefully selected volunteers, will remain in
bed, with their head slightly tilted down, at an exact -6 degree angle with the horizontal,
for as long as two months. They are not allowed to sit up for even a second. Not being an
astronaut, this is the closest one can get to experiencing the effects of long-term space
missions in the organism and develop counter-measures that will help prevent the loss of
bone ma