NASA has created a gig for people who love hitting the snooze button.
NASA will pay 24 people $19,000 each to stay in a bed for at least two months, writes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. NASA and the European Space Agency are partnering with the German Aerospace Center for an Artificial Gravity Bed Rest Study.
The pro-sleepers are replicating long-term spaceflight and its effect on the body, the space agency says. When astronauts are in orbit a lack of gravity causes muscle fatigue and body fluids to move into the upper parts of the body. During the long-running study, 12 female and 12 male participants will also remain in a centrifuge.
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It is unlikely, however, that the rest will be comfortable.
"All experiments, meals, and leisure pursuits will take place lying down during the bed-rest phase," said the German Aerospace Center in a statement. "The participants will be restricted in their movements, so that the strain on muscles, tendons and the skeletal system is reduced. The beds are angled downwards towards the head end by six degrees. This will simulate the displacement of bodily fluids experienced by astronauts in a microgravity environment." They'll have to stick around for an additional 29 days of "pre-test and recovery phases," aside from the 60 days in the centrifuge.
Aside from that, any "eating, washing, showering, going to the toilet, leisure activities" will happen while lying down. Only people aged 24-55 who speak German are qualified to volunteer as a participant.
The study hopes to reduce any health risks posed in spaceflight, officials said.
