A space research institute in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, recruits volunteers for head-down rest experiments in which participants will be compensated for 15,000 yuan. Photo: Screenshot of the institute's website

A space research institute in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, recently received a swarm of volunteers for a 15-day zero-gravity simulation experiment in which participants will be compensated for 15,000 yuan ($2,200). 

The experiment aims to study the effect of weightlessness on human physiological functions and mechanisms in space through a head-down bed rest, a widely used method to simulate weightlessness, and will take a total of 35 days from October to November, including 15 days lying on a bed, The Beijing News reported on Sunday.

Volunteers will receive free accommodation during the experiment, and a free post-experiment physical examination. 

The technical director Chen Ying said that the program has been booked up with about 800 people registered. Chen noted that the final 24 volunteers will soon be selected after they undergo clinical examinations and pathological screening. 

He said volunteers will also participate in many scientific experiments and research projects in the program.

Some discomfort will appear in the early and final stages of the head-down rest experiment, he explained, adding that these symptoms will usually go away around a week after getting up from the bed.