NASA has revealed that high-tech "space sandals" have made their debut on the International Space Station to help the agency understand the impact of weightlessness on astronauts' bodies.
The open-toed sandals, dubbed ForceShoes, look like Earthly fisherman's footwear but small computers built into the soles can record data and send it to researchers on Earth to gauge the effectiveness of space exercises for the astronauts.
The computers will measure the forces generated by the station astronauts as they work out on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The ARED utilizes vacuum cylinders to provide resistance to the astronauts' movements in place of what is normally accomplished by gravity.
"ARED is a sophisticated exercise device," Andrea Hanson, ISS Exercise Hardware Specialist, says. "Although it has helped NASA provide better health outcomes for crew members, there is still progress to be made in understanding the effects of exercise on bone and muscle health, and the ForceShoe will help us do that."
Exercise is vital for astronauts spending long periods in space to combat the bone and muscle mass loss caused by long exposure to zero gravity.
As they exercise using the ARED, the ForceShoes will collect data on their movements in three axes -- front to back, side to side and downward -- as well as how their weight is being distributed.
U.S., German and Russian astronauts joining the current crew will help test the shoes as they exercise, NASA said in a statement.
"Crew members will be asked to set the ARED to provide specific loads in the same way they would set loads on a weightlifting machine at the gym," the space agency said.
"Dynamic exercise will include squats, deadlifts and bicep curls.
"They will then lift the exercise bar and stand still on ARED while the shoes collect data," NASA said.
The tests will be carried out by American astronaut Reid Wiseman, Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and Alexander Gerst, the German astronaut representing the European Space Agency.
The three launched toward the ISS from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz spacecraft May 28, docking with the station the following day to begin their 167-day tour of duty in orbit.
The initial testing of the ForceShoes will provide load data used to refine the astronauts' daily exercise regime on the station, NASA says, adding it intends to make the high-tech sandals an integral part of that daily routine.
