The final countdown

Experiment is designed to study the effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity

Requires volunteers to remain horizontal for 70 days

Volunteers will be paid 18,000

Is meant to help develop methods that will allow astronauts returning from space missions to physically adjust to daily life

Beds can be adjusted into positions that reproduce the effects of different gravity levels on the human body

Another focus area is the psychological effects of long-term confinement to a reduced gravity environment

Mojave desert field tests

Researchers are investigating how humans will explore on Near-Earth Asteroids NEAs and the two moons of Mars Phobos and Deimos

Field experiments were conducted in April this year at Fort Irwin,California

Evaluated how different anchoring systems might allow astronauts to remain bound to a low-gravity body

Inflatable Lunar Habitat

NASA conducted a 13-month test which began in January 2008 in Antarctica

Tested how to provide shelter to astronauts for extended stays on the moon

Tested the power consumption and damage tolerance of the structure

Gauged astronauts ability to pack and transport the habitat while wearing spacesuits

Haughton Mars Project

NASAs Science and Exploration System Mission Directorates,Mars Institute,and SETI Institute conducted an experiment at Haughton Crater,located on Devon Island,Canada

The sites rocky arctic setting,geological features and biological attributes allowed them to gather requirements for possible robotic and human missions to Mars

Scientists performed exploration surface activities

Operational concepts such as extravehicular activity traverses,long-term hi-data communication,complex robotic interaction and suit engineering were tested

NASAs Extreme Environment Mission Operations NEEMO

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Aquarius Undersea Laboratory

NASA uses the laboratorys lunar-like environment as a semi-permanent site for testing lunar exploration concepts

Astronauts also execute a variety of undersea moon walks

Is 62 feet beneath the surface

It is a 45-foot-long and 13-foot-diameter complex

Zero-gravity Locomotion Simulator

Helps understand the metabolic cost of locomotion in partial gravity

Develops exercise prescriptions

Optimises hardware

Develops and characterises advanced exercise device concepts

What do scientists look for in animal astronauts?

Portability

Experience in lab

Ability to handle pressure

Animal astronauts must be small

Enough to fit in a spacecrafts

Compact quarters

The Americans chose to work with monkeys and chimpanzees as they were

accustomed to working with them in the lab

Also because they share several physiological similarities to humans

Once the species is picked8230;

Tests are conducted to determine the stand out member of the pack

Soviets subjected their recruits to a series of Right Stuff-style tests

The animals were trained for confinement,for loud noises and

vibrations

They were taught to relieve themselves in space suits a special sanitation device is attached to the suit

Only female dogs were eligible,because they were an easier fit with the sanitation devices

Only stray mutts were tested because it was thought the street-tough animals would fare better

In the us,chimpanzees were spun around in centrifuges,to get them acclimatised to G-forces

The earliest ones sent were sedated

Albert I,who was launched in a V-2 rocket,apparently suffocated before he got off the ground

The Soviets chose to launch many of their important test flights with dogs because they experimented on them since the beginning of the 20th century most famously in the experiments of Ivan Pavlov

Compiled by Vishal Menon; Graphic: Pradeep Yadav