Muscle Atrophy Research and Exercise System

When deployed, MARES was attached to the seat tracks of an International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) located in the Columbus Laboratory.

MARES is capable of providing quantifiable stimuli to a wide range of space flight participants and accurately measuring these crew-members' muscle performance.

The main box also contains power, control, supervision, and servo drive electronics, cooling fans, and a connector panel used to connect the HRF workstation and other external devices to MARES, such as PEMS II.

The restraint system also includes a pantograph, which is capable of translating and rotating the chair into a wide range of positions relative to the main box.

BMUs can be combined into distinct MARES profiles to create complex motions and to simulate common exercise routines used on Earth.

Test subject seated in the MARES human restraint system and using the linear adapter to exercise his arms.
Collage of MARES hardware being tested on the ground with the test subject in various configurations.