NASA's New Vertical Treadmill Imitates Running in Space

Researchers have devised a new vertical treadmill that will help them study exercise regimes of astronauts here on earth, in order to improve equipment and fitness programs used in space to counter the effects of prolonged weightlessness. The device, which is known as the Standalone Zero Gravity Locomotion Simulator (sZLS), was designed by researchers right here in Cleveland at the NASA Glenn Research Center and will soon be used in bed rest studies at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Galveston, Texas.

The special treadmill was brought to the Univerity of Texas Medical Branch last year where it is currently housed, as a part of the Johnson Space Center's Exercise Countermeasures Project. This project will use the treadmill to develop improved exercise routines for astronauts during spaceflight.

The weightless conditions in space can lead to aerobic deconditioning, as well as muscle atrophy and bone loss - all of which can affect an astronaut's ability to perform their best. Currently, crew on the International Space Station exercise daily to help counter the effects of weightlessness.

The sZLS treadmill will soon be used in future bed rest studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch sponsored by NASA. Test subjects will experience similar physiological deconditioning during prolonged bed rest, similar to what astronauts experience in space.

These bed rest studies, along with the use of the sZLS treadmill simulation, will help researchers figure out how to improve exercise equipment used in astronaut's exercise regimes in space.

The sZLS treadmill was based partially off an earlier version developed by Penn State University in the 1980's. However this latest incarnation is a product of Cleveland, with a team at the Cleveland Clinic collaborating closely with NASA Glenn Researchers in its development.