Couch potatoes, rejoice: NASA will pay you $50,000 to stay in bed for months

Ever wished you could get paid to hang out in bed all day? For a few lucky candidates, the dream of getting paid to do nothing but lie around in bed all day has become a within-reach reality after NASA announced that it is currently on the lookout for people to participate in their “Bed Rest Studies” program, in which participants are required to stay in bed for 60 days straight.

NASA says the experiments are designed to understand how the changes in bodily functions brought about in space may affect certain missions and investigate the impact of one’s bodily state on their ability to perform particular tasks.

NASA believes the experiments will also help researchers in devising ways of dealing with physical impairments suffered during sometimes dangerous and life-threatening space missions.

The organization is willing to pay participants in the experiments handsomely. Participants will get $50,000 just to hang out in bed for 6 months.

The application suggests researchers are looking for participants who resemble the average astronaut’s age and health. All participants must be non-smokers with the ability to pass the Air Force Medical Examination.

From NASA’s website:

During the (first 15 days) of the study, participants will be free to move around inside the bed rest facility and do normal things. They will also take part in a number of tests to find out the normal state of their bone, muscle, heart and circulatory system, brain and nervous system, and vestibular (inner ear balance) system as well as their nutritional condition and their ability to fight off infections.

After the first 11-15–day period, participants will spend 60 days lying in bed, (except for limited times for specific tests) with their body slightly tilted downward (head down, feet up). Every day, they will be awake for 16 hours and lights out (asleep) for 8 hours. During the bed rest time they will also take part in a number of tests to find out changes in the state of their bone, muscle, heart and circulatory system and nervous system, as well as their nutritional condition and their ability to fight off infections.

Interested candidates can go online to fill out the initial application, which is extremely simple.

The application form requires the candidate's contact information and basic medical history.