I have recently been given a challenge to locate "space-minded" people
that would want to contribute to a study being conducted by NASA and
the Cleveland Clinic. It focuses on astronaut bone loss in the legs,
pelvis and lower back, which is 10 greater than the normal bone loss
of .5% - 1% annually.

The study lasts for 12 weeks and apparently pays well. Seems like this
is a chance for someone who needs some money, has some time and can
help the space program as well as all people that may potentially
suffer from osteoporosis. The study will be on-going for a couple of
years so you can work it into your schedule or take a sabatical. You
must be between 21 and 50 so I don't qualify, but maybe you do!

Go to this web site for info:

www.researchscope.com/spacestudy

Is NASA experimenting with any kind of static harness which Astronauts can
wear, to put load on their bodies? Have such harnesses been made?

Selvaraj

From: "Jonathan Day"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 6:30 AM
Subject: [spacesettlers] More on Extended Space life Research

Since no one has taken the bait let me answer my own question. The harness,
consisting of elastic straps, would run from the footwear (not the modern
footwear, just two flat pieces of wood), to a helmet over the head. Pulleys
would be provided at the knees and the ball and socket joints at the hip to
redirect the forces. Constant use of this device would hopefully keep the
musculosceletal system in working order in a Zero G environment. Would it
work? Not too sure, but worth trying.

Unfortunately there is a CATCH 22 situation here. If a load were to be put
on the heads of modern humans they would probably collapse.

(To know more on this subject please visit www.humanposture.com A book is
also available now, it costs $15, including postage. It is available only
from me at the moment, as I have not been able to figure out yet how to make
it available through bookshops)

Selvaraj.
P.S. I hope Mechanical Engineers and Control Systems Engineers in the Space
community, with their more active gray cells, will take a deep interest in
this subject. It is a frightfully difficult subject to understand: it took
me 25 years to realize that my understanding of the subject over the period
had been all wrong. Humans have wrestled with the mind-body problem since
antiquity, but it was only in 1895, with the discovery of X rays by Wilhelm
Conrad Roentgen that it became obvious there is something seriously cockeyed
about the alignment of the skeletal system in humans. We have already wasted
100 years by not acknowledging the problem and trying to understand it.
THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE. Every year we waste, means we are allowing the
younger generation to enter a world where they are guaranteed to have poor
health ... and yes, there is a better chance of young men with strong knees
conquering space .... I hope all this does not sound too pontifical :-)

sraj wrote: