Experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-Delhi) have developed an anti-gravity body suit that will allow astronauts to perform yoga in space, AIIMS doctors said on the eve of International Yoga Day on 21 June.
The anti-gravity gear will help astronauts strengthen muscles and prevent loss of bone density minerals.
AIIMS said this is India’s first bodysuit for astronauts and that it will increase their weight by more than 70% in space to prevent them from floating. The claim has been validated by the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, and the proof of concept will be presented to ISRO.
“For the last few years, we have been pursuing space physiology in a vigorous way. We have indigenously developed a novel body gear for astronauts to perform yoga in space in collaboration with NIT, Jalandher. An enabling environment has to be created in the spaceship to do yoga,” Prof KK Deepak, head of physiology at AIIMS said.
“The space journey of astronauts adversely affects the functioning of muscle and bones. The anti-gravity gear will help astronauts to strengthen antigravity musculature and will also prevent atrophy (a health condition in which the size of body part decreases) in microgravity environment,” Deepak added.
“No country in the world has this unique kind of body suit for astronauts which has the facility of grounding and loading. It is known that when we reach space, our body weight becomes zero. When an astronaut wears this body gear, his body weight can be increased in a controlled manner and he will become comfortable and further stick to the surface of the defined ground in space by velcro-magnetic force,” he said.
Space physiology is one of the emerging focus areas for India in space sciences and technology development.
The theme for International Day of Yoga 2022 is Yoga for Humanity. According to the union government, the core purpose of the day is to create mass awareness regarding the health benefits of yoga.
On the occasion of International Yoga Day 2022, AIIMS will present around 90 research papers on Yoga published so far.
“Our body is made up of five elements- space, air, earth, fire and water. We have to nourish the space elements and for this we need perform some pranayama and asana, meditation,” said Dr Amrit Raj, Yogacharya and Director, Arogyadham, Rishikesh.
