Train like an astronaut

Digi wall

Climbing trains your mobility and coordination. Being mobile means that you can move your body quickly and easily. Coordination is about using your muscles and balance to control your body. When we walk up stairs, run in nature or climb, we need to be strong, fast, and balanced so we don't fall. When climbing, you also need to be focused and have self-confidence.

During basic training, and sometimes in preparation for a space mission, astronauts perform climbing activities to strengthen upper body muscles and increase whole body stability, balance, flexibility and mobility. Climbing requires both mental concentration and physical fitness.

Energy bikes

Cycling makes your heart, blood vessels, lungs, bones, and muscles stronger. It increases blood circulation and improves your stamina, coordination, and balance. When you cycle instead of driving, you help the environment too!

On the ISS, astronauts use an exercise bike called FERGO. It is designed to exercise without creating vibrations that could disrupt the stability of the space station. FERGO has no handlebars or saddle. Riding it helps astronauts stay in good shape and increases their endurance during their stay in space.

Planetary orbit

Let go of the metal washer at the edge and see how it moves on its way to the centre. The washer moves like the planets around the sun. In the beginning, the washer moves in a circle. The trajectory is affected by two forces. The movement of the washer produces a forward force. Gravity pulls it towards the centre of the track. Together these forces create an orbit that is first circular and then increasingly oval. The shorter the orbit, the faster the washer moves.

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth in just 92 minutes, giving astronauts 16 sunrises and sunsets each day. The astronauts on the ISS still try to keep the same daily schedule as on Earth.

The altitude of the ISS varies from 340 to 400 kilometres above Earth. To avoid entering the Earth's atmosphere, the ISS needs a regular push away from Earth.

Mindball

Your brain is constantly sending electrical signals. They are affected, for example, by whether you are stressed or calm and whether you are focused or not. The electrodes in the headband read the signals and send the information to a computer. This in turn controls how the ball moves. The information is also displayed as curves on the screen. To make the ball move away from you, you need to focus on the task and stay calm.

Astronauts train their concentration, focus and stamina to do difficult things in space. They must be accurate and avoid mistakes. On long space journeys, endurance is important because they work for a long time without a break. They also need to be calm and focused if something unexpected happens so they can safely get through an emergency.

Together 

Move the ball from start to finish through the maze. If you're alone, it's fairly easy even though it's heavy. The more people who help, the more difficult it becomes - at first. Before the cooperation starts, people often work against each other unintentionally. After a while it usually becomes easier to cooperate.

In space, it is important that astronauts can work together to solve different situations. They train together before they leave to be prepared. Communicating and working together as a team is essential for safety. On the space station, you need good dexterity and hand-eye coordination.

Tinker!

By practising problem-solving and not giving up when things get difficult, we learn to find solutions and deal with stress when things go wrong. Practising logical thinking helps us to understand context and make wise decisions. Being able to explain our thoughts and feelings allows us to communicate well and make ourselves understood by others.

Astronauts practice problem-solving, logical thinking and communication to better deal with unexpected situations in space.  By always working logically and systematically, they avoid problems. But sometimes unexpected events occur. It's important that they work methodically and don't give up if things get difficult or challenging. It is also important that they work well together and use each other's knowledge.

The silent room

In Sinnesgläntan, you can explore a variety of colours, shapes, natural sounds, and light that create a calm and accessible environment. Here you can experience how different sensory impressions affect your mood and stress levels. It's a place where you can recharge with energy and positivity and just be.

Space travel affects astronauts' mental health. The living spaces on spacecraft are important for astronauts' well-being. The design of the interiors can affect how astronauts think, how much stress they feel, how well they sleep and how well they can perform their work. By learning about how these spaces affect astronauts, we can make them better and help astronauts feel good during their missions.

The body

The skeleton is made of strong bone tissue. It keeps us upright, gives muscles something to attach to, and protects our internal organs. When we use the skeleton, it builds up and stays strong. If we don't put weight on the bones, they break down. Muscles work together to allow us to move and to stabilise our joints. The Earth's gravity pulls us towards the ground, helping to put pressure on the bones and provide resistance to the muscles.

Before going into space, astronauts must train to prepare their bodies for the extreme environment of space. Training focuses on both physical exercises to strengthen muscles and bones, and mental training to deal with challenges such as isolation and stress. Space travel in microgravity reduces the load on the skeleton and muscles, making muscles weaker and bones more fragile. Therefore, astronauts train 2 hours per day on the space station.

Responsive lights

Reaction time is the time it takes from detecting something until you have time to react. First you must recognise which button is lit. Then a signal is sent from your eyes to your brain. A new signal is then sent from the brain to the muscles you need to use to switch off the button. You can train your reaction time. Improving responsiveness makes you better at making quick decisions in everyday life and improves coordination.

Astronauts train to improve their reaction time, eye-hand coordination, and concentration to react quickly and safely in unexpected situations. They use simulators to train and be ready for different situations. By training, astronauts can perform their missions effectively and reduce the risk of accidents. Being in space for long periods can affect astronauts' ability to react to situations in a timely manner.

Spaceball

In Spaceball, you're fixed in the middle, which makes you spin around your own centre. If you lean slightly forward, backward, or sideways, the centre of gravity shifts. This causes the rings to move. In Spaceball, you use all your muscle groups. It also improves your ability to understand your position in relation to the environment and your sense of body position, movement, and muscle tension without having to actively think about it.

Astronauts need to be strong and agile to move. They need strong core muscles, spatial awareness, and a sense of body position. When floating in microgravity, they experience no clear direction. For them, there is no up or down! Many people think that Spaceball was developed to simulate weightlessness. But this is not true. Spaceball's movements can only be made using gravity. However, Spaceball is still used in the training of astronauts.

Running track

Two ways to get around with both hands and feet on the ground are the crab walk (face to the ceiling, feet in front, hands behind you) or the bear crawl (face to the ground, hands in front of the feet). Using your arms and legs to support your body weight strengthens your muscles and improves coordination between your upper and lower body.

Just like you, astronauts need to develop muscle strength and coordination. In a microgravity environment, astronauts can't walk like they do on Earth. Instead, they coordinate their hands, arms, and feet to push themselves from one place to another.

Balance

Balance is important for every movement we make, even if we don't always think about it. Having good balance makes it easier to move and reduces the risk of injury. Our balance depends on our vision, the balance organs of the ear and the sensory organs of the skin, muscles, joints, and ligaments. They all work together with the brain to help us keep our balance. Your balance can always be improved through exercise and by challenging it.

Before, during and after a spaceflight, it is important for astronauts to train their muscles and balance. During the initial period of weightlessness, it can be difficult to know what is up and down. It can also be difficult to keep the balance and to move forwards or sideways. Back on Earth, the brain must once again adapt to the Earth's gravity to maintain balance.

Reaction test

Press the red button as fast as you can when the red LED lights up.

Also test your reactions with a reaction stick. Hold your hand around the stick without grasping it. Ask someone to drop the stick. How far did the stick fall before you caught it?

When you see the light go on or the stick fall, signals are sent to the brain. The brain sends information to tell you to move your hand using your muscles.

Astronauts train to improve their reaction time, eye-hand coordination, and concentration to react quickly and safely to unexpected situations. They use simulators to train and be ready for different situations. By training, astronauts can perform their missions effectively and reduce the risk of accidents. Being in space for long periods can affect astronauts' ability to react to situations in a timely manner.

Feel the weight

The backpacks simulate how differently their weight would be felt on different celestial bodies. Earth's backpack has a mass of 4kg. Compare with the other backpacks how Earth's backpack would feel on other celestial bodies.

In our Solar System there are planets and moons, each unique in size, mass, and distance from the Sun. If you were travelling to them, your weight would be felt differently in each location due to differences in gravity.

Jumping rope increases skeletal strength and improves the endurance of your heart and other muscles.

ESA's Astronauts will not be walking on other planets in the near future, but their training includes understanding the influence of gravity. During their missions, they are in microgravity and are weightless. When astronauts come back to Earth after spending time on the International Space Station, they feel tired, as if everything is extremely heavy. Astronauts need to train to get used to Earth's gravity again.

Self-Fall

Self-Fall consists of a 15-meter high tower with a drop height of just over 10 meters. During the first 5 meters, your bottom lifts from the seat, and you fall freely; then, the braking begins. In free fall, you fall as fast as the vehicle you are traveling in. During free fall, you experience weightlessness, but your body retains its weight. When the braking occurs, your weight increases to nearly double.

The tickling sensation in your stomach during free fall is due to the acceleration's impact on your intestines. You have seven to eight meters of intestines folded in your abdominal cavity, attached to its wall only in certain places. When you accelerate quickly up or down, the intestines move and press against the abdominal wall, causing the tickling sensation in your stomach. During prolonged weightlessness, like on a space station, there is no tickling in the stomach. It is the transition to weightlessness that causes the tickling, not the weightlessness itself.

The Centrifuge

The centrifuge spins at over 30 km/h, exposing you to a force of about 3.7 g horizontally, which is greater than Earth's gravitational force of 1 g. This force is called centripetal force and pushes you against the wall, making you feel heavy. People tolerate g-forces differently depending on the position of their bodies.

Astronauts lie on their backs during launch to better withstand the extreme g-forces. During the Falcon rocket's launch, they experience about 3.3 g when the first stage ends and up to 4.5 g during the second stage. Astronaut training includes centrifuging that simulates up to 8 g to prepare them for the forces that can occur during launch and landing.

The Rocket

Make the bell on the wire ring! Connect the bottle to the filling pipe and listen for the click. Fill the bottle with water. Pump air with the pump up to 3.5 bars of pressure. Launch the water rocket. The air pushes out the water that rushes out through the bottle's opening while propelling the bottle in the opposite direction. Similarly, rockets can be sent into space. Rockets with multiple stages are used to get into space. Each stage has its own engines and fuel. Although today's rockets use the same fuel as 60 years ago, kerosene and liquid oxygen, there have been advancements. For example, new rockets, like SpaceX Falcon 9, can be reused after landing, which is a major advancement in space technology.

The Parabola

When you speak into the ring, sound waves bounce or reflect off the parabola and travel parallel through the air to the other parabola. When the sound waves hit the other dish-shaped disc, they reflect again and gather in the center, the so-called focal point. As the sound waves gather, they are amplified and heard better.

Parabolas are used to send and receive signals over long distances, such as when we talk on the phone or watch TV. The larger the parabola, the better it can capture and send signals. It must be aimed at what it is receiving or sending signals to/from. Very large parabolas can capture very weak signals from very far away, which is important for us to communicate and discover things in space.

The Separator

Start the experiment by spinning. Watch the balls. How do the balls react to how fast you spin? Get the balls to stay in the middle of the arms! When you spin the Separator, the rotation pushes the balls out and up along the arms. The faster you spin, the higher the balls go. You can experience this on carousels or when you drive quickly around a curve.

Satellites are held in place around the Earth by two forces: gravity pulling them toward the Earth and the speed that sends them outward. If the speed becomes too low, the satellite falls toward the Earth, and if it becomes too high, it leaves its orbit.

The Climbing Wall

When you climb, you train your mobility and coordination. Being mobile means you can move your body quickly and easily. Coordination involves using your muscles and balance to control your body. When we walk upstairs, run in nature, or climb, we need to be strong, fast, and balanced so we don't fall. When you climb, you also need to be focused and believe in yourself.

During basic training and sometimes in preparation for a space mission, astronauts perform climbing activities to strengthen upper body muscles, increase whole-body stability, balance, flexibility, and mobility. Climbing requires both mental concentration and physical fitness.

The Music Gym

Movement is crucial for our health and well-being. In the music gym, you can not only exercise but also explore your creativity by creating rhythms and music simultaneously! Discovering the joy in your activities makes it easier to stay motivated and exercise regularly.

On the space station, astronauts spend about two hours each day exercising in the gym to stay in physical shape. To keep motivation up and avoid boredom, they sometimes use VR glasses. These glasses transport them to virtual environments where they can explore nature and other places far from the confined environment of the space station.

The Misguided Bicycle

When you were little, your brain learned that right is right and left is left. But with the misguided bicycle, everything you know about cycling becomes reversed. It challenges your balance and perception of your surroundings. Even though it takes time to get used to the odd steering, your brain is really good at adapting. The handlebar has a special gear that makes the wheel turn in the opposite direction to how you steer. The more you practice, the better you get.

Astronauts train to handle balance and body control, both in space and when they return to Earth. Moving and living in weightlessness can initially feel as strange as when you try to ride the misguided bicycle. By practicing before the space trip, astronauts adapt faster to their new environment. They train to perform both expected and unexpected tasks.

The Course

Twist your body and challenge your agility and flexibility. Navigate the course and touch each square with the correct body part before moving on to the next row. Move as quickly as possible without making any mistakes.

For astronauts, agility training is crucial both in space and after returning to Earth. In space, they lose agility because they float and don't need to change direction quickly. When they return to Earth, they need to regain their agility to handle everyday activities and demanding tasks.

The Log Course

Pretend you are on the surface of Venus - surrounded by erupting volcanoes! Balance on the logs to safely navigate without stepping into the lava flows.

Venus is Earth's closest neighbor and is very hot and difficult to live on. Venus lacks a protective shield against the sun's rays. The atmosphere around Venus is thick and full of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. On the surface, it is extremely hot because the clouds trap the sun's heat. Scientists study Venus to understand how the greenhouse effect works, among other things.

String maze

Figure out the path that suits you best. Crawl, slither, jump, and step. Navigate the obstacle course without touching any string. Does it go faster if you try multiple times?

For astronauts, agility training is crucial, both in space and after returning to Earth. In space, astronauts lose agility because they float and don't need to change direction quickly. When they return to Earth, they need to retrain to regain their agility to handle everyday life on Earth.

Panning for Gold

A panning dish and good patience are all that is needed. Gold's density causes it to settle under the sand and gravel in the water, which is the principle of panning. You can keep the gold you manage to pan.

Scientists have a theory that all the world's gold comes from dead stars (neutron stars) that have collided with each other. As gold and other precious metals become increasingly difficult to obtain here on Earth, attention has turned to space instead. Many asteroids are believed to contain such large amounts of platinum, gold, and silver that such mining would be profitable despite requiring space travel!

Walking on Stilts

New equipment brings new conditions. How does your movement pattern change when you walk on stilts? Do you have difficulty standing still, can you take longer steps or have a better view?

Astronauts depend on their suits to survive during spacewalks. The suit is heavy and cumbersome, so astronauts train to move in their suits in large water pools on Earth. It is important to move as smoothly as possible to, for example, repair the space station if it needs maintenance.

Collaboration

To solve the task, you need to be several people. The more people who help, the more difficult it becomes - at first. Before the collaboration gets going, you often inadvertently work against each other. After a while, it usually becomes easier to cooperate.

In space, it is important that astronauts can collaborate to solve various situations. They train together before they go away to be prepared. Communicating and working together in a team is crucial for safety. On the space station, you need good dexterity and hand-eye coordination.