Performing CPR on a space station in microgravity involves doing a handstand on a person’s chest and pushing against the walls with your legs – but now researchers say there is a better way
By Matthew Sparkes
27 August 2025 Last updated 27 August 2025
Researchers test a chest compression machine on a dummy in an aeroplane
CNES
Microgravity makes it tricky to do simple tasks like eating, using the toilet and showering, so it is no wonder that performing CPR on someone whose heart stops beating in space is an extremely demanding procedure. But a mechanical device could do the job more effectively, tests carried out in simulated microgravity suggest.
On Earth, one’s weight and strength are used to compress the patient’s chest. But in space, things are different, as weight becomes virtually meaningless.
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NASA’s CPR protocol for the International Space Station demands that you wedge yourself and the patient between two hard surfaces, do a handstand on their chest and push with your legs to provide compression.
In search of a better way, Nathan Reynette at the University of Lorraine in France and his colleagues tested various CPR methods in an Airbus A310 aeroplane flying parabolic curves, a manoeuvre that creates 22 seconds of microgravity. They also tested three different chest compression machines that are commonly used in cramped environments on Earth, such as in the back of air ambulance helicopters.
All the methods were applied to a training dummy and the depths of chest compression achieved were carefully monitored. The European Resuscitation Council says a depth of at least 50 millimetres is necessary to be effective: in the tests, the best mechanical device achieved 53 millimetres, but the handstand method only achieved 34.5 millimetres.