There are countless devices that we have all been using for decades, which have their origin in Space. No, the phrase is not a reference to the existence of life on other planets and the eventual visit of beings to our little blue lump with the… gadgets them, but it is a real, meaningful description of technological objects and materials, which make our lives much easier.

Rechargeable drills, vision correction technologies LASIK and Eye Tracking Devicecountless researches for drug and vaccine development,… velcro to close jacket pockets and many other items of innovation, first traveled to the stars and then landed on store shelves and healthcare facilities. So now we’re getting ready to welcome, a few years from now, a fitness “tool” that’s currently being developed for the astronauts who in a few years will live and work on the Gateway Space Station in orbit around the Moon. Astronauts who, far away, should stay healthy and …fit.

“Exercise in Space is evolving. The physical therapists and expert trainers who guide the astronauts from Earth are constantly enriching their knowledge with what we learn from Space and so this knowledge is transferred to exercise and rehabilitation medicine on Earth. Exercise equipment for astronauts is also improving, for example the ARED exercise equipment is an evolution of the older “iRED” system, and in general we are learning and making more and more effective exercise equipment for people in orbit,” he explained, speaking to the APE-MPE radio station “Agency 104.9 FM”, the doctor of the astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the first Greek successful in the European selection of young astronauts, Adrianos Golemis.

The news, which in the long run can have broad positive effects on the health of all people and on Earth, however, is a new revolutionary fitness instrument that is currently in development. “As humanity prepares to return to the Moon with the Artemis missions, a new instrument called ‘E4D’ has now been developed. It has been designed and produced in Europe, winning in an open competition the respective proposals of NASA. The advantages of the new gym equipment in Space is that in a small space, it can with its foldable extensions provide the possibility for many different gym exercises. These, for the first time, include rowing and pulling ropes, while in general the variety in exercise is important because all the muscle groups that are at risk from the conditions prevailing in space are trained with its use,” explained Mr. Golemis.

E4D is, however, also a classic example of the economic benefits of human presence in Space since it is produced by a relatively small Danish company, DAC, which won the competition to build it on open terms. “The company started with small payloads in the exercise and space medicine space, in the era of the space shuttle and the older Mir station. It now manages contracts worth several million euros to develop such innovative technology on humanity’s new journey to the Moon. The important thing, however, is that every technological achievement is commercialized and applied on Earth, so we all benefit. Maybe in a few years we will be practicing at home with a foldable versatile instrument, from E4D!”, noted Mr. Golemis.

Solutions to a very important problem: human health in the Void of Space

Since the year 2000, humanity has had a permanent presence in Space with rotating crews of astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) and the main goal of the astronauts is research. Things, however, are never simple when the human body had to be far from its… home: the conditions on the surface of the planet.

“In orbit around the Earth we are constantly discovering new knowledge because Space is the only place where we can study medicine, physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and other sciences without the influence of gravity. Astronauts in orbit are in a constant “free fall”. Even from how they live or what they have to watch out for we extract valuable knowledge to improve our daily life on Earth. One such example is how we maintain the muscle mass of astronauts on long-term missions outside the Earth: We know from the first decades of space exploration that the human musculoskeletal system atrophies – especially the muscles of the back and lower limbs, since they are not used either for to move the body but not yet to support it against gravity, as on Earth. This problem will be more important for crews in long-term missions on the surface of the Moon and in the distant future in trips to the planet Mars”, explained Mr. Golemis.

Implementing practices to reduce negative impacts is not a casual choice of methods, but one of necessity. “The expected loss of muscle mass, if we do not apply any countermeasures, can reach 50% in certain muscle groups. It is indicative that the circumference of the gastrocnemius decreases by 10-30% in long-term missions. In order to prevent and limit this loss, astronauts exercise for about 1.5-2 hours, five times a week,” said the Greek scientist. He noted that, in addition to the new exercise instrument mentioned, and based on the design, we will see it operating in orbit around the Moon. However, we already have solutions that have been tested for years and are a counterweight to the effect of weightlessness.

“Long ago, at American/European segment of the International Space Station there are three exercise instruments: a treadmill called T2 and to which the astronauts strap themselves so they can run. The resistance of this belt is equivalent to 60% of their weight on Earth. A second exercise instrument, the (stationary) bike CEVISand a third machine, the AREDwhich is something similar to lifting weights. But how do we lift weights when there is no gravity? ARED, then, is an instrument that provides resistance, so instead of lifting dumbbells, astronauts exercise their muscles using them against the resistance of the machine – lessons that have application to many technologies on the surface of the Earth as we said,” he concluded. the Greek, a doctor specializing in astronauts, noting with certainty that we will constantly see the fruits of the development of space research “in our lives today and in the future”.