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NASA "Bed Rest" Contractor Blogs the Days

Posted by timothy on from the idle-for-science dept.

Arguendo writes "It seems that earning $5000 a month for bed rest as a NASA contractor may not be so enjoyable after all. A 38 year-old woman selected for the study is blogging about her experience as test subject for NASA's study about the long-term effects of microgravity on people. There's quite a bit of information on her page, including info about the screening process, the food options [.xls link], and the not-so-great days of testing and immobility. It definitely sounds like work."

4 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Just need to learn to live "in the moment" by oldspewey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm thinking meditation practice would be extremely helpful in this situation (and by extension also for long-term space travel) ... since there is nothing you can do to alter your current (sucky) situation, you just need to be at peace with it and experience it moment by moment.

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  2. Stuck in a bed for months = torture by Badmovies · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I sustained a serious eye injury when I was about 12 that required me to stay in bed, on my back - only on my back, not my side - for a month. The injured eye was covered with a bandage. I could not read, watch TV, or do anything that might cause the eye to be used (apparently the covered eye would move in unison with the uninjured one if I read or watched TV).

    So, except for necessary restroom breaks, and a short bath every 2 or 3 days, I was stuck in that bed with just a radio for entertainment. It was not pleasant. Even less pleasant because Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" was the big hit at the time. That song still causes an unpleasant Pavlov reaction over two decades later.

    --


    Andrew Borntreger
    Champion of cinematic disasters
    1. Re:Stuck in a bed for months = torture by oldspewey · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm not at all surprised to read about your experience. Similar research was done in which patients had far worse complaints.

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  3. McSweeney's by olclops · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There was another guy that was doing a similar study about a year ago. He made a big deal about how he was going to keep a journal and post them on McSweeneys.net. He started out really excited, and then day by day, the posts got more and more terse and depressing. Until finally they just stopped. Only two weeks in. Never heard how that turned out. But it was enough to convince me to never, ever volunteer for a study like that.