Together with the Polytechnic University of Barcelona and the Barcelona-Sabadell Aeroclub , last May, the Hypatia Mars association participated in an experimental campaign to explore microgravity with parabolic flights. These consist of placing the plane on a parabolic trajectory with zero lift and with the engine compensating for air friction, making the only force acting on the plane that is gravity. Consequently, for a few seconds, inside the cabin, microgravity can be experienced. In total, five analogue astronauts from the Hypatia Mars association experienced up to 180 seconds of accumulated microgravity in the sky of Catalonia and tested its effects on the body and brain. In this sense, the experimental campaign allowed two lines of research to be opened. The first line will study the effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system of astronauts, with Dr. Antoni Pérez Poch from the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia . The second line will delve into the effects of microgravity on the brain, with Professor Elisa Raffaella Ferrè from Birkbeck College . The experience went beyond testing protocols and technologies and sought to identify how the body works in an extreme environment that is different from Earth.
Five analog astronauts from the Hypatia Mars association experienced up to 180 seconds of accumulated microgravity in the sky of Catalonia and tested its effects on the body.
