Does being in space change your sleep patterns? The European Space Agency are looking to find out. Currently they have astronauts in space testing this very question. How do they do it? They are monitoring the body temperature of the astronauts. They do this using a thermometer attached to the forehead of the astronauts. Temperature, believe it or not, is actually a good way to monitor the body clock. Temperature is an integral part of sleep regulation, in fact your body temperature fluctuates during the day in response to your circadian rhythm (circadian rhythm is often referred to as the body clock). The astronauts are monitored before, during and after the mission and when those high flyers get back down to earth we may have some idea of what space travel does to the body clock.
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