Electrical Brain Stimulator Replicates Spaceflight's Gravitational Effects

By Clay Dillow Posted 08.25.2010 at 10:02 am 3 Comments

GVS in Action Courtesy of the Human Aerospace Laboratory at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Very few of us know exactly what it feels like to return to Earth's gravity after a long stay in microgravity, but a new system developed by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute can safely induce the mobility and sensory problems that accompany a return from space, unpleasant though they may be. The Galvanic Vestibular Stimulator (GVS) delivers electrical pulses to the nervous system, triggering the vision problems, confusion, and balance issues that often set in right about the time a Space Shuttle pilot is attempting to land his aircraft.

The GVS uses electrodes attached behind the ear to send short shocks of electricity to the vestibular nerve, producing the sensory and motor disconnects that often plague astronauts as they come back to Earth's gravity. GVS itself isn't new, but the new system is both portable and more comfortable for users. Moreover, the developers have put it through a battery of tests that have not only exhibited its viability of using it as an analog for astronauts' return to gravity but helped those administering GVS create better simulations.

Considering 20 percent of shuttle landings fall outside the optimal performance range for factors like touchdown speed, GVS could become a regular tool for training pilots on how to deal with the rude awakening their bodies and brains receive upon reentry.

GVS could also help astronauts deal train for other more future-oriented space maneuvers (yes, we know the shuttle is nearing its expiration date). GVS simulations could help future planetary explorers deal with a scenario like landing on Mars after an extended spaceflight the likes of which current astronauts never undergo. In the more immediate term, it could help train jet aircraft pilots here on earth.

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3 Comments

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pheonix1012

08/25/10 at 3:00 pm

Seems to me that the GVS will only be useful for just what the mentioned at the end of the article (Jet Pilot training). The next thing they could use it for is helping astronauts deal with the extreme G-forces of ascent from a launch pad.

"Welcome! to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack!!!"

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gizmowiz

08/25/10 at 3:02 pm

Without gravity 'in flight' man in destined to be planet bound forever. Why make such foolish space craft as they do now when you know it will never work in the long run? The crafts must have artificial gravity by rotating them along a spoked hub. Nothing else makes any sense at all. It's just more stupidity by those supposed to be smarter than us.

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