Capability & wellness programmes, one foundation. The longevity protocols target the biological substrate — cellular health, inflammation, metabolic function, sleep. The astronaut curriculum builds the operational layer on top: flight, diving, survival, systems, navigation. Run them together.
There is an enormous gap between the number of people wanting to live and work in space and the number of positions capable of meeting them. This programme isolates the transferable skills that underpin modern astronaut selection and makes the training path self-led, low-cost, and open to anyone. No formal agency required. Updated v0.2 adds physiology targets, microgravity countermeasures, and v0.1 link corrections.
Microgravity causes bone density loss (~1–2%/month), muscle atrophy, cardiovascular deconditioning, fluid shift, and visual impairment from intracranial pressure. NASA and ESA astronauts run structured countermeasure protocols on ISS. The longevity protocols in Tab 02 directly support these targets — they share the same biological substrate.
| CAPABILITY | LONGEVITY LINK | ASTRONAUT RELEVANCE | TARGET / METHOD |
|---|---|---|---|
| VO₂max Training | Primary cardiovascular longevity marker; stronger all-cause mortality predictor than most blood tests | Cardiovascular deconditioning is the primary physiological microgravity risk; high baseline = larger safety margin | Target ≥50 ml/kg/min. 3–4h Zone 2/week + 1–2 HIIT sessions. Cooper 12-min run for field testing. |
| Resistance Training | Preserves muscle mass, bone density, insulin sensitivity with age | Bone loss ~1.5%/month in microgravity. Higher baseline = greater buffer. Squat/deadlift are ARED (ISS resistance machine) analogues | 3–4× per week. Squat, deadlift, OHP, pull-up. DXA scan annually for bone density + lean mass tracking. |
| Vestibular / Balance | Falls prevention; neurological health maintenance | Vestibular system severely disrupted by microgravity. Pre-adaptation reduces on-orbit adaptation time and post-landing recovery | Weekly: single-leg balance, balance board, head-movement exercises during tasks. Gymnastics basics valuable. |
| Cold Exposure | Inflammation reduction; parasympathetic resilience; brown adipose activation | Thermal regulation impaired post-flight. Cold adaptation builds autonomic resilience for re-entry and post-landing ops | See Tab 02 Protocol 03. 3–5×/week, 10–15°C, 5–8 min. |
| Cognitive Performance | Neuroplasticity maintenance; dementia risk reduction | Cognition under fatigue, isolation, and time pressure is a primary astronaut selection criterion | Daily: dual n-back (free). Weekly: chess (Lichess). Bi-weekly: spatial reasoning sets. |
| Psychological Resilience | HRV improvement; cortisol regulation | 6–12 months extreme isolation, noise, confinement, life-dependent operations. Psychological risk is documented as the primary long-duration mission threat | Daily ≥10 min breath focus. Monthly solo isolation challenges (solo camping, solo nav). Journalling. |
Start from what draws you. Montessori-style — no fixed order. All free unless marked.
Europe's elite clinics charge £6,000–50,000 per week. The biology they're selling is not proprietary — it's available to anyone willing to understand it and act on it. Six protocols, all evidenced, all expandable below. The FMD and supplement protocols run periodically or continuously as marked. Cold exposure, sleep, and gut reset are daily practice. Run these alongside the astronaut training — they are the physiological foundation everything else runs on.
The core intervention at every clinic in this category. The mechanism is autophagy — your body's cellular cleaning process, activated when mTOR and IGF-1 nutrient-sensing pathways detect very low protein and caloric intake. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology for characterising it. A 2024 RCT in Nature Communications found three FMD cycles reduced biological age by a median of 2.5 years, alongside improvements in insulin resistance, hepatic fat, and immune markers. Protocol: 5 days, ~800–1,100 kcal, plant-based, under 20g protein/day.
Lanserhof was built on the century-old FX Mayr method, treating the gut as the source of systemic inflammation. The modern evidence is substantial: gut microbiome directly regulates immune function, neurotransmitter production, metabolic health, and inflammation through markers including CRP, IL-6, and LPS from a damaged gut lining. The 30-chews-per-mouthful protocol is evidence-backed for satiety hormone signalling improvement through cephalic-phase digestive response. Sounds trivial. It isn't.
Every clinic uses thermal contrast therapy. The mechanism is hormesis — brief controlled stressors force adaptive responses that build systemic resilience. CWI below 15°C triggers measurable noradrenaline and dopamine release, activates brown adipose tissue for improved insulin sensitivity, and stimulates parasympathetic recovery. A 2025 systematic review in PLOS One (11 RCTs, 3,177 participants) found regular CWI associated with reduced stress, decreased sickness absence, and improved quality of life. Evidence is promising; the risk profile for healthy adults is low; the cost is effectively zero.
CLP's extract includes fisetin. Longevity Centre Warsaw builds personalised stacks from biomarker data. The following are evidence-ranked — not all longevity supplements qualify. Fisetin is a flavonoid senolytic; a 2018 EBioMedicine landmark found it the most potent of 10 flavonoids tested for senescent cell clearance; a 2025 Colorado study showed equivalence to genetic clearance for physical function. Spermidine is the most supported autophagy inducer outside fasting — 2024 Nature Cell Biology confirmed it as a necessary mediator of fasting's longevity effects across species. NAD+ precursors (NMN/NR) consistently raise blood NAD+ in humans; longevity translation still under investigation.
What makes the clinics valuable above all else is data — a comprehensive biological baseline tracked over time. Epigenetic clocks (algorithms estimating biological age from DNA methylation) have become commercially accessible. The PhenoAge and GrimAge models developed by Morgan Levine and Steve Horvath predict morbidity and mortality more accurately than chronological age. You can run a meaningful version of this stack for under £500/year.
Every clinic enforces structured rest and regulated sleep. Chronic stress elevates cortisol, suppresses immune function, promotes visceral fat, shortens telomeres, and accelerates cellular aging. Sleep below 7 hours predicts worse outcomes across virtually every longevity biomarker. Cellular repair, growth hormone release, immune consolidation — all occur primarily in the parasympathetic state. Modern life systematically suppresses it. The clinics sell its restoration at £50,000 per week. You can target it for free.
| ITEM | FREQUENCY | COST | EVIDENCE | LINK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProLon 5-Day FMD Kit | Monthly ×3, then quarterly | ~£165 | STRONG RCT | prolon.co.uk ↗ |
| Atlas Biomed Microbiome | Annually | ~£150 | VALIDATED | atlasbiomed.com ↗ |
| YorkTest Food Sensitivity | Once | ~£150 | DIAGNOSTIC | yorktest.com ↗ |
| Cold Plunge / Ice Bath | 3–5×/week | Free – £600 | PROMISING | Amazon UK ↗ |
| Fisetin 500mg (pulse) | 2 days/month | ~£30/mo | STRONG PRECLINICAL | donotage.org ↗ |
| Spermidine 5–10mg | Daily | ~£40/mo | GOOD DATA | Amazon UK ↗ |
| NMN / NR (NAD+) | Daily AM | ~£55/mo | EMERGING | Amazon UK ↗ |
| Vitamin D3 + K2 | Daily | ~£12/mo | STRONG | Amazon UK ↗ |
| Omega-3 EPA+DHA | Daily | ~£20/mo | STRONG | Amazon UK ↗ |
| Magnesium Glycinate | Nightly | ~£12/mo | STRONG | Amazon UK ↗ |
| Medichecks Blood Panel | Annually | ~£200 | ESSENTIAL | medichecks.com ↗ |
| TruDiagnostic Biol. Age | Annually | ~£230 | VALIDATED | trudiagnostic.com ↗ |
| Oura Ring Gen 4 | Continuous | £350 + £6/mo | BEST IN CLASS | ouraring.com ↗ |
Year 1 total (inc. diagnostics): ~£1,500–2,000. Ongoing quarterly: ~£700–1,000. No affiliate commission taken on any product listed. Links provided for convenience only.