NASA will pay you $18,000 to smoke weed and sit in bed for 70 days. Wait, what?

Politics By Simon Berger

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to neglect life’s social and fiscal responsibilities in order to stay in bed for an extended period of time while smoking doobies and watcing internet videos, the government may have just funded your stoner prayers.

NASA, the once-dead, despondent government agency is on a new mission to help determine the prolonged effects of space travel on astronauts by enlisting volunteers in its “Rest Study,” where participants will have to spend 70 straight days in bed and smoke different types of cannabis, receiving $18,000 for the period of aggressive bodily atrophy.

70 Days seems like a long time to spend in bed, and it is. Thankfully participants will have the opportunity to read books, Skype and witness how often PornHub updates its video library in a 24-hour period.

So what does any of this have to do with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? The experiments are designed to find ways of preserving astronaut’s health and safety during periods of extended space travel. Turns out, “Head down” bed rest is a good way of mimicking zero gravity space travel as the head and muscles have zero strain when laying down.

As to how the cannabis comes in to play is anyone’s guess although NASA claims it’s attempting to also study the effects of cannabis on the body. You know, a “kill two birds with one stone” kind of scenario — although personally, if we’re going to sit in bed for 70 straight days, we better be as high as a kite.

Out of 25,000 applicants who applied for the study, only 55 were chosen. Read one applicant's journey through the process for when the day comes and you're ready to serve your country in the name of traveling to Mars where we can finally meet Matt Damon.