Source: Thomas 1xbet online sports betting , 785-532-0712, tbarsto@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/barstowbio.html
News release prepared by: Jennifer Torline, 785-532-2535, jtorline@k-state.edu

Monday, Aug. 23, 2010

RESEARCHERS EXPLORE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF 1xbet online sports betting TRAVEL WITH NASA GRANT

MANHATTAN -- The final frontier may be no further than Manhattan, Kan., as a team of Kansas State University researchers launches a project funded by a .2 million grant from the National Aeronautics and 1xbet online sports betting Administration.

The team -- composed of Thomas 1xbet online sports betting , professor of kinesiology; Steven Warren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; Russell Taylor, an engineer in the Electronics Design Laboratory; and Carl Ade, a doctoral student in anatomy and physiology, Salina -- will research what physical characteristics are necessary for an astronaut to perform lunar 1xbet online sports betting . The team also will study ways to assess whether a person has enough physical capacity to perform the 1xbet online sports betting .

"Space travel is inherently dangerous," 1xbet online sports betting . "The absence of gravity, which we call microgravity or zero gravity, causes our bodies to deteriorate in a variety of ways."

A microgravity environment causes the weakening of muscles and the immune system, and it deteriorates the cardiovascular system's ability to regulate blood pressure. Barstow said this can affect an astronaut's ability to perform necessary 1xbet online sports betting , such as climbing ladders, walking or opening doors. For the safety of the astronauts, NASA wants to make sure they are physically fit enough to perform those 1xbet online sports betting during future missions to the moon and even Mars.

"What seems like simple 1xbet online sports betting as part of their life on the moon or other destinations could be life threatening if the astronauts aren't strong enough to do those 1xbet online sports betting ," Barstow said.

The goal of the research, Barstow said, is to develop a simple test or a series of tests that astronauts can use in space to identify their physical conditioning and to determine if they have the capacity to perform lunar 1xbet online sports betting .

Each year of the three-year project will focus on a different aspect of space travel. In the first year the researchers will recruit 100 people to undergo an obstacle course of 1xbet online sports betting that NASA has identified as simulating lunar activities -- including dragging a dummy, climbing up and down ladders, pushing a wheelbarrow of rocks, and walking for 10 km. The participants also will perform physical fitness tests, such as running on a treadmill and arm exercises. Warren is developing sensors that the participants can wear to measure muscle activity and the oxygen circulating to them while performing the 1xbet online sports betting .

"We're hoping to get a fairly complete description of each person's muscle strength, muscle endurance and cardiovascular endurance, so that with the results of those tests, we then can predict their performances during the simulated lunar 1xbet online sports betting ," Barstow said.

For the second year Warren and Taylor plan to develop a support system that 1xbet online sports betting simulate different levels of gravity. The systems works by suspending the participant like a marionette -- with cables that are attached to a platform and 1xbet online sports betting be adjusted to simulate the moon's gravity or gravity on mars. The system is hung from a forklift, or telehandler, so that it 1xbet online sports betting move across a terrain while the subject traverses a simulated moonscape.

The third year researchers plan to observe participants performing the lunar 1xbet online sports betting in space suits. Since the moon's gravity is one-sixth that of earth and Mars' gravity is three-eighths of the earth's, it will make some of the 1xbet online sports betting easier than performing them on earth. But, Barstow said, the pressurized space suits that astronauts wear could make the 1xbet online sports betting more difficult, especially 1xbet online sports betting that require using hands to grip objects. The researchers also plan to develop special physical tests just for the arms and forearms.

At the end of the three years the researchers hope to continue working with NASA to develop countermeasures, or ways the astronauts can maintain strength and endurance in 1xbet online sports betting .

1xbet online sports betting the project also creates research opportunities for kinesiology students, and he is looking for 15 to 20 students to help with research. The researchers are also looking for 100 people to participate in the study and for a building to perform the tests sheltered from the weather.