Our bodies aren’t built for space; they’re built for a planet a lot like our own. Human beings have evolved here on Earth over millennia, so our bodies have adapted to excel in a gravity environment under the protection of our planet’s atmosphere. In low Earth orbit, however, those ubiquitous elements are taken away, and the body’s various systems adapt accordingly.
Perhaps the biggest change astronauts experience is bone and muscle loss. Humans on Earth work out these systems every day, simply by moving and standing against gravity. But without gravity to work against, the bones lose mineral density and the muscles risk atrophying. It’s something astronauts are consistently trying to prevent from happening. “We try to minimize it as much as possible,” says Bob Tweedy, the countermeasures systems instructor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. To do that, astronauts on the station work out six out of seven days a week for 2.5 hours each day.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
