Want to lie around all day, every day for more than two months and still get paid for it? Well, NASA has the job for you. For people willing to spend 70 days in bed, NASA is willing to pay $18,000. That's about $1,200 per week for staying in a prone position as part of NASA's bed rest studies. But as with all too-good-to-be-true deals, there's a catch. "You don't have to do anything but lie here," said Beth Ann Shriber, who took part in a 90-day study in 2006. "I would say it's more about enduring." NASA's study examines the effects of microgravity on the human body -- a simulation for the antigravity astronauts experience during extended missions. Essentially, study participants will lie on beds with the heads tilted down, 6 degrees below the level of the feet. Now imagine staying there for 70 days. Without leaving. Even to go to the bathroom. Showering is done on a special gurney that keeps users at that neverending 6 degree tilt. "Couch potatoes is not an accurate description for what we are looking," NASA's news chief Kelly Humphries told Forbes. Participants in the study are required to pass a rigorous physical as well as a psychological test. Then there's the electrocardiogram. And don't forget the drug and alcohol screening. Between the testing and the 70-day stint horizontal, it takes a toll on the body. The lack of exercise prevents the heart rate from ever increasing, so muscles begin to atrophy. The effect is palpable to former participants. "Every other day when I shower, when I come back, I'm huffing and puffing," said Shriber. Still sound like a dream job? You can apply here.
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by Ruth Schneider
Posted on October 4 2013
Reddit
