COLBERT Treadmill

The Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) will be used to maintain bone, muscle, and cardiovascular conditioning on the International Space Station crewmembers. The COLBERT is instrumented to collect inflight research-grade data for experiments that are representative of critical mission tasks on future long-duration exploration missions.

Engineers spent two years designing and building what is suddenly the most famous treadmill in the world - or above it.

Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" had a big night Sunday night with two Emmy wins. The occasion was a good reason for one writer to remind folks that Colbert has a treadmill named after him on NASA's International Space Station.

On February 10, 2010, NASA launched a module of the International Space Station. Oddly enough, the module’s treadmill drew a considerable amount of media attention. That’s because Stephen Colbert, a political satirist and host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, had attempted to have Tranquility named after him. NASA refused – thereby overriding America’s popular vote – but the space agency offered up the treadmill’s name as a consolation prize. The astronauts’ treadmill is now dubbed the C.O.L.B.E.R.T., or Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill.

NASA named its newest treadmill for astronauts after the comedian Stephen Colbert and an astronaut describes what it is like to run in space.

Comedian Stephen Colbert talks about the launch of his namesake equipment - a treadmill destined for the International Space Station.

Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - Expedition 37 flight engineer Karen Nyberg demonstrates how astronauts use the COLBERT treadmill in the weightless environment aboard the International Space Station. Crew members exercise for at least two hours each day to prevent the loss of muscle mass and bone density that occurs during long-duration spaceflight. Please rate and comment, thanks! Credit: NASA

NASA announced Tuesday that it won't name a room in the international space station after the comedian. Instead, it has named a treadmill after him.

The Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization System, commonly abbreviated as TVIS, is a treadmill for use on board the International Space Station and is designed to allow astronauts to run without vibrating delicate microgravity science experiments in adjacent labs. International Space Station treadmills, not necessarily described here, have included the original treadmill, the original TVIS, the БД-2, the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), and the Treadmill 2 (abbreviated as T2). Some share a name, some a design, some a function, some use different (passive) vibration-suppression systems, some it is unclear how they differ.