That's the same amount of bone a post-menopausal woman can lose in a year. But they still can lose as much as 1.5 percent of their bone mass per month. Astronauts work out on this equipment up to two hours a day. The space station is outfitted with special exercise equipment designed to counteract this and other physiological changes that occur in space. As a result, space station astronauts experience disuse osteoporosis, a type of bone loss common in immobile patients. In the absence of gravity, human bones don't have to perform their primary function of supporting the body's weight. It also could help doctors treat and prevent osteoporosis, a disease that threatens 44 million Americans. The information they gather will help NASA design better exercise equipment and develop exercise routines for astronauts.
They'll begin testing with human participants in early spring. To do so, a team of engineers from NASA's Glenn Research Center and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation have developed a new treadmill that simulates the space environment. As NASA prepares to send humans back to the moon and eventually beyond, researchers are looking for new ways to keep astronauts' bones healthy and strong. Living in space is indeed a dream come true, but over time it can cause an astronaut's bones to deteriorate. Fincke pose for a photo in the space station's Unity node. Image right: Expedition 9 cosmonaut Gennady I. They twist and flip as easily as Olympic gymnasts and can hoist more weight than power lifters. On the space station, astronauts are like superheroes.
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