Artist's rendering of the completed International Space Station in 2006. With a mission to Mars, we will expect astronauts to travel perhaps six months in zero gravity, and then land on a planet with about one-third of Earth's gravity. True, a 200-pound person would weigh only 74 pounds on Mars. But that is enough to strain someone who's been living in no gravity and then has to put on a heavy spacesuit and perform strenuous explorations. This person would then have many months of zero gravity in a spaceship before returning to the gravity of Earth.
Healthy muscles make for a healthy person.
Anderson took 45-minute stationary bicycle rides on his trip into space, pedaling to the sounds of Acoustic Alchemy, Earl Klugh and gospel music. It's an all-body suit that is filled with powerful bungee cords. If the astronaut does not resist, he or she snaps into a fetal position. However, the suit is not a big hit with astronauts and only seems to partially solve the degeneration problem, Kushmerick says. Professor Martin Kushmerick, head of the UW space medicine team, tests the muscles in a patient's leg.