NASA is poised
to launch a new treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert to the
International Space Station on the shuttle Discovery on Tuesday and at least
one astronaut has taken it for a test spin. But what's it like, running in
space?
Astronaut
Sunita Williams, who lived aboard the space station for almost seven months in
2007, ran a marathon in space during her trip, making her an expert of sorts on
jogging
in orbit.
"I tried
a COLBERT
mockup at Johnson Space Center," Williams has said, adding that the
treadmill is broader than one on the station today. "So you don't have to
watch out where your feet go. It allows a wider, more natural gait."
Still, it's
a strange experience, one in which sweat floats and your feet might, too.
The new
treadmill will launch alongside 15,200 pounds (6,894 kg) of new science gear
and supplies. It will complement the space station's array of exercise
equipment that helps astronauts fight the bone loss and muscle decay associated
with space travel.
Discovery
is slated
to launch Tuesday at 1:36 a.m. EDT (0536 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida to begin a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.
C.O.L.B.E.R.T.
by any other name
Colbert's
name on the new machine is a consolation prize to the host of Comedy Central's
"The Colbert Report" after his fans won a
NASA poll to name the newest space station module earlier this year. Voters
chose "Colbert" for the module, but NASA opted for the more staid
moniker "Tranquility," reserving "Colbert" for the
treadmill.
With bureaucratic
flair, NASA managed to convert the name "Colbert" into a complex
acronym: the device is officially titled the Combined Operational Load Bearing
External Resistance Treadmill - C.O.L.B.E.R.T.
Discovery
commander Rick Sturckow said that he and his crew don't plan to do much more
than deliver the treadmill, but he recognizes the popularity Colbert's name may
add to it, even if it came out of an online poll originally reserved for a new
station room.
"I think it's
important to broaden NASA's reach and pick up other audiences," Sturckow said
in a recent interview. "So if they want to have a contest to try and name
something and that works into something else, and it wasn't what it was
initially started out to be...I still think that it's a net gain for NASA."
NASA
invited Colbert to watch Discovery launch his namesake into space, but he was
unable to attend. Instead, NASA will broadcast a television message from
Colbert tonight on NASA TV.
COLBERT will be the second
treadmill for the station's six-member crew. The one in place now, called the
Treadmill with Vibration Isolation System - TVIS, allows astronauts to run
without vibrating delicate microgravity science experiments in adjacent labs.
"Just
getting ready to run is a workout when you're weightless," Williams said. "Before
all my training runs up there, I had to hook the toes of one foot under a
handrail to keep from floating around while I struggled to put my sock and shoe
on my other foot."
The astronauts also have a
simple solution to keeping their feet firmly planted while running in zero
gravity: bungee cords. "You have to strap yourself to the treadmill,"
Williams said.
Space
marathon
In 2007,
Williams effectively ran
the Boston Marathon on the space station's treadmill, wrapping herself in
bungee cords for the 26.2-mile race. She missed the cheering crowds. "In
space it's a little bit lonely," she said. But her crewmates rooted for
her and floated slices of oranges to her while she ran.
Inside the
close, still quarters of the space station, there are also no gentle breezes.
"Sweat globs onto you.
It doesn't evaporate," Williams said. "I was soaking wet. During the
marathon my hair was so sopping it flopped right in my face. We have little
fans blowing on us but they don't do much good."
She recovered faster after
the space marathon than she did after running on Earth. "When you're
floating, your muscles get to rest, so you can totally relax when you finish
running - it's like being in a pool," she said.
But afterward she did not
feel the "endorphin effect," or runner's high that long-distance
efforts can provide. "I'm not sure why," she said. "We are
loaded with only about 60 percent of our Earth weight on TVIS and its harness
system, so maybe I just didn't work hard enough."
After the run, Williams
longed for a hot shower. "A sponge bath just isn't the same!" she
said. Neither did she have a washer and dryer for cleaning her sweat-soaked
running clothes. "I hung my drenched clothes near a fan and tied my
sneakers to a handrail to air them out."
SPACE.com
will provide complete coverage of Discovery's STS-128 mission to the
International Space Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik and Staff Writer
Clara Moskowitz. Click here
for shuttle mission updates and a link to NASA TV.
advertisement
