When pondering the challenge of how to make astronauts’ lives better on the International Space Station, the winners of the “Life in Space” Challenge went back to basics.
The winning team of five students from Carnegie Mellon University looked at how astronauts working on the International Space Station (ISS) spent their days.
It turns out, they spend nearly two hours of their 12-hour shifts exercising—not only for good health, but to prevent muscle degeneration and mobility loss that would otherwise happen over time in an atmosphere with little-to-no gravity.
In fact, astronauts lose almost 20 percent of their muscle mass due to prolonged exposure to microgravity conditions, which can be a serious health threat when missions on the ISS average about six months.