Our readers had a lot of questions following our last post on the NASA Bed Rest Study, in which participants spend 90 days lying in bed in exchange for about $5,000 a month. What did participants eat? Could they have conjugal visits? Did they get to play videogames?

UPDATE 5/12: Check out this picture of the bed rest lab. Could you spend 90 days there?

We got in touch with Ronita Cromwell, the senior research scientist heading the project to put your questions to her. She emphasized that the study's purpose is to simulate some effects of zero-gravity on astronauts' bodies during long stays in space. By keeping participants horizontal, her team can gain some visibility into muscle atrophy and bone loss. If you want to help the space program by lying about, just fill out this NASA application form.

In this question-and-answer, Cromwell discusses the gritty details of what you can watch, how you can eat, whether you can play videogames and if you can have conjugal visits during your three months in bed.

Wired.com: How many people have completed the study?

Ronita Cromwell: 36 people have completed the study since 2004, and we have five active on our unit.

Wired.com: How many people have dropped out?

Cromwell: Eight have quit.

Wired.com: Anyone ever been kicked out?

Cromwell: Subjects have violated protocol. They are monitored. You give up a lot of your privacy when you enter the study. There is a camera aimed at the bed. We also have people subject monitors who sit out in the hallway outside the room.

Wired.com: What kind of entertainment options do people have?

Cromwell: We provide computers that are linked to the web and can play computer games. [Ed: Level 70 Paladin here we come!] They have their own television monitors that hang over the bed. They also have a sort of central common area, a subject lounge, where we can roll the beds out and they can play cards and board games.

Wired.com: Can you bring a a PS3 or Xbox 360?

Cromwell: There is already a game system on the TV unit. I am looking into what kind of system we have. If a subject would like to bring their own system that is also doable.

Wired.com: What do you eat? Do people lose or gain weight?

Cromwell: A lot of people think we serve astronaut food, but it's not. It's regular food. We have our own kitchen on the unit… An isocaloric diet is designed to maintain a participant's body weight.

Wired.com: What do people do for the ninety days?

Cromwell: We require that subjects come in to the study with a goal – something they can do that can pass the time and look forward to each day. It might be something like learning a language. I have someone who is continuing his employment. I have another subject who is looking to make a career change.

Wired.com: Are there conjugal visits?

Cromwell: They certainly can have visitors, but there are no conjugal visits.

Wired.com: Do people do it who are married?

Cromwell: There's a gentleman right now who is married. I guess it's one of those things that they agree on with their spouse.

Wired.com: Why do people do it? They've got some credit card debt and a few months to spare?

Cromwell: Actually, a lot of these folks feel that this is their way of helping the space program, but there are a variety of reasons.

Wired.com: How long does it take people to recover?

Cromwell: We give them approximately two weeks of recovery time on the unit. We monitor them and give them rehabilitation exercises. That's usually enough to bring them back to normal functioning. They can certainly get up and walk around. We don't encourage them to take a hiking trip. Their muscle strength comes back.

Wired.com: What about bone loss?

Cromwell: Bone is something we do watch. They will lose 1 to 2 percent of their bone per month. That's not going to come back within two weeks. So, we bring them back at six months and then a year later to look at their bone density.

Wired.com: Does the bone come back?

Cromwell: What we tell people is that they will lose bone and it may never return to their prestudy levels. It's entirely possible, but a significant number [of people] do return to their normal density.

Image: Screen cap from Bedreststudy.com.

See our story:

NASA Offers $5000 for You to Lie in Bed