I've always wondered about this. I don't like heights much. If I were to stand at the top of a tall skyscraper for instance and look over to the ground, my legs go to jelly and I get that feeling of ' omg this is TOO high!" And there is no way I could jump out of an airplane with a parachute on my back, it's just too scary.

But when I see astronauts spacewalking, I wonder if that feeling of height and vertigo would still exist with the backdrop of planet earth? Is it so high that it would go beyond the issue of vertigo or would it simply be even scarier than when within the earths atmosphere? Does this make sense or is it a dumb question?

I would love to go into space, but I think it would scare the crap out of me to be hanging over the entire planet unsupported.

As for vertigo during space flight, there are more mundane causes for that; inner-ear fluid imbalances during 'weightlessness' contribute more to vertigo (and spacesickness) than fear of heights, I would think: http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...ck_040921.html

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I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Couple of things:
1] You don't normally experience this when you are confident in the materials beneath your feet - such as in an airplane, and even (so I'm told despite my intiution) in a hot air balloon. this type of vertigo is a visual illusion.


2] OTOH, astronauts are not experiencing an illusion; they literally are falling, which they'll feel in their inner ear. As you ascend into space, and the rockets cut out, you will invariably feel that your ship is plunging back to Earth in a freefall. (Ever felt that in an airplane when it throttles back after reaching cruising altitude? It feels like you're on a roller coaster slipping back down the hill) That is what you feel.

3] But you get used to it.

4] After a couple of days. Civilians and green astronauts tend to experience bouts of sickness for the first day or two, often when sleeping.

With the training they recive i would expect they would simply get used to it.
What i want to know is how hard it is for them to adjust to life back on earth after time in space?

Well, I went on a helicopter ride for my birthday once. I thought I'd get used to the vertigo and nausea after 15 minutes. I was wrong; the vertigo and nausea increased to the point that I actually asked the pilot if I could roll down the window to throw up! When he said 'no', I begged him to land the 'copter somewhere, anywhere ('That stream looks good!'). He flew me straight back to the base; I managed not to toss my cookies in the chopper but lost it as soon as I landed.

I kept on barfing all day long into the evening; I've never been so sick in my life.

So, no, some things one just can't get used to. However, I'd imagine that prospective astronauts who are as afflicted by motion sickness as I am would soon wash out of the program anyhow.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

There is certainly a difference between situations in which one is visually connected to the ground in some way (as when standing at the top of a cliff or tall building), and when one is simply suspended above the ground with no visible means of support (as in a hot air balloon or small aeroplane).
The former seems to be a much more powerful vertigo-inducer than the latter.

Paracelsus, your description certainly sounds more like motion sickness than vertigo, to me. Unfamiliar motion, especially if you're moving your head back and forth, is a pretty powerful stimulus to the semi-circular canals and otoliths.

Grant Hutchison

My recollection was that about half of astronauts get space sickness, and Wikipedia agrees. See:

Space Adaptation Syndrome (Space Sickness).

Space adaptation syndrome (SAS), or space sickness, is a condition experienced by around half of astronauts and cosmonauts during adaptation to microgravity.[1] It is related to motion sickness, as the vestibular system adapts to weightlessness.

Modern motion-sickness medications can counter space sickness, but are rarely used — it is thought that having astronauts adapt over the first day or two is preferable to a medicated (and drowsy) state during a mission. However, transdermal dramamine anti-nausea patches are typically worn during launch and landing by NASA astronauts.

I've always wondered how susceptible I'd be. I've been on the water during rough (but not extremely rough) sea, haven't used anti-nausea drugs, and never felt nauseous, before, during, or after eating. The only time I've ever managed to get a little motion sick was after spinning rapidly on one gizmo or another, then stopping quickly. That would go away in a couple of minutes.

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Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Yeah, I'm very prone to motion-sickness. I got that tendency from my mom. Distantly related to the OP topic, my husband and I had our rehearsal dinner on a catamaran. My Matron-of-Honor, a female friend of ours, and my mom all got sick as dogs. I was ok because I took the max dose of Dramamine AND had on Sea-bands AND was royally plastered on rum punch the entire time. My MOH took Dramamine but got sick anyway. I don't know what our friend took, but my mom took nothing. She was the only one of the three that puked, and boy did she ever.

So maybe the cure for space sickness is a combo of Dramamine, Sea-bands, and lots of rum punch.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

When I was a junior doc I looked after a lady whose vertigo involved a constant sense of toppling over backwards, rather than any sort of rotation around a vertical axis.
With a bit of straight-faced bluffing, I managed to briefly convince my boss that there was a clinical entity called "horizontigo", distinct from vertigo, and that this lady had it. He was evidently embarassed not have heard of this diagnosis, and disappeared off to the library for an hour in search of enlightenment.
When enlightenment of a different sort dawned, I must say he took it rather well; but not nearly well enough to save me a roasting.

Grant Hutchison

I found out about my sea-sickness on our honeymoon, a Windjammer cruise. I was sick as a dog the first night. The disconnect between visual input and what my inner ear was feeling was key - I was better when I was up on the deck and could see the horizon (this doesn't work at night or in your cabin). The big help was Dramamine, as long as I was dosed I felt fine. I too have been curious as to how I would do in space, though I suspect shuttle pilots, unlike heliocopter pilots, can't abort as quickly to base because of sick passengers.

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Or roll down a window or land in a stream.

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The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

I suspect that barfing in your spacesuit (helmet on) is not a good thing.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

UGH!

__________________
The dose makes the poison--Paracelsus (1493-1541) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus

I don't know. That's why I'm asking--Noclevername

Intelligence may not be clearly defined, but you know stupid when you see it--Noclevername

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge--Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

In the article I linked previously, they note:

Mission-critical activities (especially EVA, during which vomiting could be fatal) are generally not scheduled for the first days of a mission, to allow crews to adapt to zero-g. Due to the danger posed by possible vomiting in an extravehicular suit, transdermal dramamine patches are also typically used during EVAs, as an additional backup measure.

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Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

I get terrible motion sickness, as I find out on trips to theme parks with my teenaged daughters. I'm pretty sure that spaceflight would be a bad experience for me, although I'm not too bad on boats.

One thing that I imagine would be particularly disturbing about being in orbit is the speed at which the Earth whips past the window. That big blue ball, covered in cloud formatiions and familiar geographical features, marching and curving past the window; I expect that would be fascinating and hypnotic - and probably would trigger my motion sickness. Not exactly vertigo, but just as bad.

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Yup. Stay on deck. Keep your eye on the horizon. Definitely high on the 'dodging seasickness' list. Next time, take the Dramamine hours beforehand.