The aim of Planhab (Planetary Habitat Simulation) is to investigate the combined effects of hypoxia and sustained recumbency (bedrest) on human physiological systems. The partial pressure of oxygen in the environmental gas inside future planetary habitats will be lower than in the atmospheric air. Prolonged exposure to low gravity will result in the deconditioning of vital physiological systems, and may consequently constitute a threat to the health of the astronauts.
However, it is unknown how prolonged exposure to both reduced gravity and hypoxia will affect health.
The new knowledge also has implications for society in general, since chronic hypoxia and bedrest constitutes a model of the basic conditions experienced by patients suffering from respiratory insufficiency, restricting them to a physically inactive life style. The challenge of the project lies in the complexity of the experimental interventions where healthy humans are confined to a hypoxic environment during prolonged bedrest. The effects will be investigated in experiments concerning metabolic, cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, haematological, immunological and thermoregulatory functions.