Exploiting Rhytmic Gymnastic in microgravity.

Exploiting Rhythmic Gymnastics in Microgravity to upgrade Human Motion in Space is the theme of a project we would like to explore with the students in the School of Motion Sciences of the Turin University using the facilities offered by Alcatel Alenia Space Italy within the ESA program “Fly you Thesis” or other 0g opportunities. The immediate aspect of the proposal is to evaluate the plausible difference in sound/rhythm perception and of gymnastics action on Earth and in Microgravity, taking advantage of the opportunity to study the particular aspect of human motion and sensitivity expressed by such specialty. Microgravity is the principal variable for this experiment, considering the paramount effect of subtracting Gravity in a motion study as Gravity is the main and most stable environmental factor in posture and motion evolutionary adaptation to our Planet. The final aspect of the proposal is to contribute to improve wellbeing in Long Duration Mission habitability studies in which physical activity becomes a key factor for astronauts’ reliability and mission’s success. The project will be developed guidelines of an earlier ESA Student Parabolic Flight, the CROMOS experiment (awarded by ELGRA). Exploiting such experiment it was foreseen the possibility and the opportunity to study a particular aspect of human motion and sensitivity expressed by the Rhythmic Gymnastics. The idea of this experiment is assembled from previous results of the experiment during which some gymnastics actions were performed following a request of our research team. Taking advantage some void parabolas Irene Schlacht and Henrik Birke performed a feasibility test of this proposed experiment (Schlacht et al. 2008). The possibility to experimenting by motion sciences students in particularly developed exercises expressing the full complexity of such kind of extreme physical activity may give, a wide opportunity for studies of human motion when deprived of its major parameter: weight.