Countermeasures to Reduce Sensorimotor Impairment and Space Motion Sickness Resulting From Altered Gravity Levels

Adaptation to altered gravity has been of concern from the earliest reports of space motion sickness, through the Apollo exploration era, and into current planning of exploration missions. The proposed research program takes a new approach which could lead to an effective, practical and acceptable protocol for preadapting astronauts to space flight. By using the gravito-inertial alterations possible with centrifugation in different body orientations the investigators will quantify an individual's sensory adaptation capability and use it to predict and to minimize the consequences of movement in any other gravity environment - eventually including weightlessness. The investigators will also study whether a drug (promethazine) affects motion perception and motion sickness.