Nasa looking for volunteers to stay in bed - for ten weeks

You could say it's literally a dream job: getting paid to stay in bed.

American space agency Nasa is advertising for people to do just that.

They need volunteers who are willing to stay in bed, read a book or watch TV. The catch? They have to stay in bed for 70 days without getting up at all.

Nasa scientists need to study the effects of weightlessness on the human body and they felt one of the easiest ways to do this was to get people to put their feet up.

In Nasa's Bed Rest Project, volunteers will be placed in tilted beds so their feet are slightly higher than their body. They'll then stay that way - whether going to the toilet or showering, or eating.

After ten weeks they'll be asked to do a number of exercises to see how the lack of exercise has affected them.

Lying down for such long periods of time can cause loss in muscle mass and bone density.

 

But the Nasa team need very healthy people to take part: they said the volunteers should be as fit and capable as a real astronaut.