Risk of Reduced Physical Performance Capabilities Due to Reduced Muscle Size, Strength, and Endurance (Muscle Risk)

Exposure to the microgravity environment causes muscle size, strength, and endurance to decline. Based on ISS data, if crew adhere to the exercise schedule and have access to adequate exercise countermeasure systems then on average, they return with minimal losses of muscle size, strength, and endurance. New exploration countermeasures systems will be different from ISS […]

Mar 11, 2025 - 22:12

Risk of Reduced Physical Performance Capabilities Due to Reduced Muscle Size, Strength, and Endurance (Muscle Risk)

1 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

astronaut sets up the International Space Station's exercise bicycle

NASA astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei sets up the International Space Station’s exercise bicycle, also known as the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS), inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Vande Hei later strapped himself on the CEVIS and attached sensors to himself for a workout study measuring aerobic capacity in space.

NASA

Exposure to the microgravity environment causes muscle size, strength, and endurance to decline. Based on ISS data, if crew adhere to the exercise schedule and have access to adequate exercise countermeasure systems then on average, they return with minimal losses of muscle size, strength, and endurance. New exploration countermeasures systems will be different from ISS and may not have the capability to support exercise as required to maintain human performance.

a medical test that requires use of the treadmill exercising device

On Challenger’s middeck, Mission Specialist Guion “Guy” Bluford, assists Dr. William E. Thornton (out of frame) with a medical test that requires use of the treadmill exercising device designed for spaceflight by the STS-8 medical doctor on Sept. 5, 1983. Forward lockers with data recording units and checklist notebooks are to the left of Bluford. Guy Bluford was the first African-American astronaut to fly into space.