It was a strange job advertisement with which the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was recently looking for volunteers. It promised people 11,000 euros in compensation for the quite manageable task of lying quietly in bed for 30 days. The beds, wrote the DLR, would have a special feature. They are located in a special laboratory in Cologne and are slightly tilted so that the subject’s head is permanently below the body. The volunteers would have to eat, drink and go to the toilet in the inclined position, solve tasks and operate a special ergometer – standing up is strictly forbidden. The goal: to simulate the conditions under weightlessness.
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