No rocket science degree required. No need to train like an astronaut or endure crushing G-forces. If you're a healthy Chinese man between 30 and 55 years old, you can literally help advance China manned space development by spending weeks lying down, and you can get up to 70,000 yuan ($9,800) for the endeavor.

Astronaut Center of China (ACC) has officially launched recruitment for the Earth Star-3 (DiXing-3) bed rest experiment program, the latest in a series of groundbreaking ground-based simulations designed to prepare astronauts for long-duration missions aboard the China Space Station.

The information was first noted by the space-focused social media account Our Space. Via a phone interview, the ACC confirmed the details and told the Global Times that the volunteer recruitment had been launched and people are already applying for participation.

According to the ACC, volunteers will be randomly assigned to either a control group or an exercise group. Depending on your group, you'll spend approximately 15 days or 30 days in a special head-down tilt bed rest head-down position (usually 6 degrees), which cleverly mimics the effects of microgravity on the human body.

The duration may be extended according to experimental needs, but it will never exceed 60 days. During this time, you won't just lie there staring at the ceiling. Scientists will monitor data including bone density, muscle loss, cardiovascular function, balance, blood flow, and more. The exercise group will follow specially designed countermeasures to test how well specific training can fight the negative effects of "space-like" conditions.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, in 2019, 36 healthy male volunteers lay on beds with their heads low and feet high for 90 days for an experiment to simulate weightlessness that will pave the way for Chinese astronauts' long-term stay in space, the number of people simultaneously participating in such an experiment was a world record. It was the Earth Star-2 experiment, conducted by the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, which was a preparation for China's space station.

When asked why the period was reduced to 60 days from the previous 90 days, the Global Times learned from ACC that the goal of the clinical experiment differs from that of the previous edition. However, ACC did not provide further details.

The source also noted that participants are allowed to use their phones during the experiments.

Bed rest experiments are a vital tool in aerospace medicine research. They enable scientists to study the physiological effects of low-gravity conditions and to test the effectiveness of protective strategies, per the Our Space article.

The deadline for the application will be on May 20. And those who pass the preliminary review will be scheduled for group physical examinations and psychological assessments. Those who successfully pass these checks will participate in the experiment.