Pre-flight sensorimotor adaptation protocols for suborbital flight¹

Issue title: 8th Symposium on the Role of the Vestibular Organs in Space Exploration April 8–10, 2011, Houston, TX, USA

Guest editors: Charles M. Oman

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Shelhamer, Mark^{a; *} | Beaton, Kara^b

Affiliations: [a] Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA | [b] Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA | Man Vehicle Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Mark Shelhamer, 2-210 Pathology Building, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD 21287-6921, USA. Tel.: +1 410 614 6302; Fax: +1 410 614 1746; E-mail: mjs@dizzy.med.jhu.edu

Note: [1] This paper was presented at the Session: Suborbital and Parabolic Flight at the 8th Symposium on the Role of the Vestibular Organs in Space Exploration, April 8–10, 2011, Houston, TX, USA

Abstract: Commercial suborbital flights, which include 3–5 minutes of 0 g between hyper-g launch and landing phases, will present suborbital passengers with a challenging sensorimotor experience. Based on the results of neurovestibular research in parabolic and orbital flight, and the anticipated wide range of fitness and experience levels of suborbital passengers, neurovestibular disturbances are likely to be problematic in this environment. Pre-flight adaptation protocols might alleviate some of these issues. Therefore, we describe a set of sensorimotor tests to evaluate passengers before suborbital flight, including assessment of the angular vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), ocular skew and disconjugate torsion, subjective visual vertical, and roll vection. Performance on these tests can be examined for correlations with in-flight experience, such as motion sickness, disorientation, and visual disturbances, based on questionnaires and cabin video recordings. Through an understanding of sensorimotor adaptation to parabolic and orbital flight, obtained from many previous studies, we can then suggest appropriate pre-flight adaptation procedures.

Keywords: Space flight, suborbital flight, adaptation, motion sickness, weightlessness

DOI: 10.3233/VES-2011-0434

Journal: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 22, no. 2-3, pp. 139-144, 2012