The space race to create gym equipment for future astronauts

The European Space Agency (Esa), NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency have all played some part in the equipment's development and testing, including Esa providing the parabolic flight tests.This is where a plane climbs and nose dives to create weightless conditions like in space, giving the researchers 22 seconds to gather data before the maneuver is repeated to build up their analysis.ESA/NASAAstronauts have to work out for at least two hours a day on the International Space Station to maintain fitnessCalled HIFIm (High-Frequency Impulse for Microgravity), the kit has already been through a round of testing for other exercises, such as its "jumping" setup. The idea for the device came out of a competition between three different consortia around Europe to come up with an exercise device for the Gateway Space Station, an orbital space station for the Moon, explains Dr Meganne Christian – a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency and Senior Exploration Manager at the UK Space Agency.Although Gateway has effectively been sidelined by NASA, Christian says we are at a "really exciting moment in space exploration" where these devices can be used for new space stations and "the lunar surface" with Artemis missions going back to the moon "this time to stay".ESA/NovespaceDr Meganne Christian is a reserve astronaut for ESA who also helped test the equipment on the parabolic flightThe British invention is not the only piece of equipment in development and testing. "In space we don't experience any forces, our muscles, our bones immediately start to diminish because we're not being loaded by those forces," says Dr Dan Cleather, professor of strength and conditioning at St Mary's University who is on the team developing the British equipment, HIFIm.He designed the technology that allows it to monitor how effectively the user is exercising.If astronauts do not do exercise, they also lose coordination and cardiovascular fitness, they become less able to carry out the functional tasks that they're required to do.But there are challenges with exercising in space too, from the weight of current exercise equipment to the limited range of exercises you can do and the time it currently takes astronauts to keep fit.BBC/Tony JolliffeSFX engineers who have worked on Star Wars, Mission Impossible and James Bond, winning an Oscar for 1917, have worked on making HIFIm. "On the International Space Station, for example, astronauts spend about two hours of every day doing exercise… that all adds up, it takes time," Christian explains.For her, if you can reduce the amount of time you're exercising, it frees up more time for astronauts to do science and experiments "which could cause a whole range of breakthroughs."The team behind HIFIm believe their device can reduce this exercise time down to 1/2 hour a day.