If you think staying six feet away from other people is difficult, imagine having to stay nearly 250 miles away from every human on Earth. That’s the case for the crew of the International Space Station, who are basically sitting in a tin can far above the world.
But they’re not just sitting. As NASA astronaut Jessica Meir explained in a Twitter video, living in microgravity means that crew members on the ISS would lose bone density and see their muscles atrophy if they didn’t work out. Staying fit in space offers its own unique challenges—there’s the isolation, of course, but the astronauts also can’t just take the dog for a walk whenever they need a breath of fresh air.
Meir demonstrates three machines astronauts use to exercise. The first is the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED), which she describes as a “one-stop weightlifting machine.” It looks similar to something you’d see in a gym, but adapted for space: Rather than using weights and gravity to provide resistance, it uses a pair of vacuum tubes. The astronauts can do squats, lifts, presses—pretty much anything you’d do with a gym machine.
As the current residents of @Space_Station, @AstroDrewMorgan and I thought we’d share some of our strategies for living happily in isolation. Tip #1: Exercise is vital not only for physical health, but also to your mental well-being. Here’s how we do it on @Space_Station . . . pic.twitter.com/Dzyh5WYBBj
That’s great for maintaining muscle, but as you might imagine, cardio in space comes with its own challenges. Spacewalks aren’t enough to keep your heart rate elevated. So the ISS includes the aptly named T2, which just stands for Treadmill 2. It looks like a regular treadmill, but with bungee cords and a harness. That keeps the astronauts from floating away in microgravity; Meir says, “It’s pretty fun to run on T2. You get a little extra spring in your step.”
Finally, for more cardio, the astronauts have a stationary bicycle—though in true NASA fashion, it’s called the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS).
It’s got the pedals of a typical bike, but in microgravity it doesn’t need a seat or handlebars. Astronauts use a pair of handholds to stay in position. Drew Morgan, another NASA astronaut, says,
“I get a much greater heart rate doing this than I do running on the treadmill.”
Most of us will never have to stay fit in the cold depths of space. But it’s good to know even astronauts have to work out—and inspiration for those of use back on Earth.
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