NASA's Glenn Research Center and the Exercise Countermeasures Project at NASA's Johnson Space Center recently completed construction of the Standalone Zero Gravity Locomotion Simulator (sZLS), or vertical treadmill system, at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
The sZLS is a smaller-scale version of the GRC Enhanced Zero Gravity Locomotion Simulator, and is designed to fit in a hospital room. The HRP Exercise Countermeasures Project will use the sZLS during flight analog bed rest studies to understand how best to develop exercise devices and procedures to keep astronauts healthy during exploration mission phases. The sZLS may also be utilized with other protocols to simulate the effect of extra-vehicular activity, or space walks, on physiologic systems.
