As a human factors engineer, one of main concerns would be the physical condition of my
crew throughout the mission. In order to keep a healthy crew, exercise and proper nutrition
would be a main priority of the astronauts. Exercise on Earth is very similar to working out
in space; the only difference is the lack of gravity. This lack of gravity makes it an absolute
necessity in space. On Earth, exercise is mainly for personal purposes such as losing
weight and the toning of muscles. In space, the astronauts not only need to stay healthy
and tone their muscles, but to survive and avoid the risk of weakening their body. In fact,
astronauts need to receive as much as four hours of exercise in a day in order to properly
keep their body in top shape.
There are many reasons, besides staying in shape that astronauts exercise. The main reason
astronauts work out during trip in outer space is because they suffer from a condition
similar to osteoporosis, which is a disease that results in a significant amount of bone loss.
When an astronaut spends a prolonged amount of time in space, he or she experiences the
effects of micro gravity and remains weightless during the whole trip. Researchers have
found that after spending long periods of time in a weightless environment, astronauts will
eventually start to lose large amounts of bone mineral density. This means that astronauts
are subject to losing at a rate of about 10 times what is normal on Earth. This results in