A space lab on Earth
At Cologne's Envihab, doctors can simulate every possible environment. They can alter temperatures, light, sounds, air composition, humidity at whim. But the lab has even more in store.
May the bed rest begin!
On Wednesday, September 9, Cologne's Envihab kicks off a study in which 12 test subjects will feel what it's like to be in space. The catch? They'll have to lie down for two months straight. DW takes a look.
Using space to understand the Earth
Astronauts' bodies undergo stress when they travel to and through space - their metabolic and endoctrine systems, among others, change. The Envihab research lab in Cologne aims to understand how the body evolves in space.
Weak legs and muscles
When astronauts return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) they cannot walk. Their muscles have degenerated during the period of weightlessness. Without gravitation, blood moves away from the legs and builds up in the head.
Staying fit
This fitness machine is attached to a short-arm centrifuge. Astronauts can use it to exercise their muscles. This kind of centrifuge can be to simulate gravity used during long space missions.
A glimpse into the heart
The centrifuge at Envihab can go up to six times the Earth's gravitational acceleration - like during a rocket launch or in a fighter jet. This ultrasound machine, attached to a robot arm, can examine how the heart reacts during this process.
Up close
The doctor can move the ultrasound machine very close above the test subject's body, allowing him to look directly into the heart or at other organs to see if they have moved during the intense accelerations, and whether or not blood vessels swell or decrease in size.
When the brain goes into standby
EEGs, like the one shown here, help sleep researchers better understand how brain waves change , for instance when people nod off.
When thinking changes direction
On Earth, it's pretty simple - gravitation always pulls us down. The universe around us seems to stand still. But in space, there's no up and down. So astronauts practice tricky maneuvers, like docking a space capsule, on computers before taking off.