If you spin in a zero gravity / space capsule, will you get dizzy?
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Being in space means that the fluid in your ear moves around a lot, so many astronauts will feel dizzy when they get into space because the signals confuse their brain. However, eventually their brain realizes those signals are unreliable and starts to rely more on sight instead – making it very hard to feel dizzy.
[From a video made on the International Space Station](https://youtu.be/GPnLShiJ-t4) it appears to be possible for an astronaut to feel dizzy from spinning. However, for the astronaut in the video at least, the dizzy feeling seems to fade away within a few seconds after they stop spinning.
So I’ve actually been on the “vomit comet” for some research testing. It’s used to mimic zero g for very brief periods (~25 seconds I think).
Based on my experience, I can promise you some people (me) get very dizzy
Throwing up in zero g is very different. But it was easier than throwing up during the 2-g’s acceleration. That was pain.
So I’ve actually been on the “vomit comet” for some research testing. It’s used to mimic zero g for very brief periods (~25 seconds I think).
Based on my experience, I can promise you some people (me) get very dizzy
Throwing up in zero g is very different. But it was easier than throwing up during the 2-g’s acceleration. That was pain.
Being in space means that the fluid in your ear moves around a lot, so many astronauts will feel dizzy when they get into space because the signals confuse their brain. However, eventually their brain realizes those signals are unreliable and starts to rely more on sight instead – making it very hard to feel dizzy.
[From a video made on the International Space Station](https://youtu.be/GPnLShiJ-t4) it appears to be possible for an astronaut to feel dizzy from spinning. However, for the astronaut in the video at least, the dizzy feeling seems to fade away within a few seconds after they stop spinning.
So I’ve actually been on the “vomit comet” for some research testing. It’s used to mimic zero g for very brief periods (~25 seconds I think).
Based on my experience, I can promise you some people (me) get very dizzy
Throwing up in zero g is very different. But it was easier than throwing up during the 2-g’s acceleration. That was pain.
Others have addressed what happens in the inner ear that causes disorientation and dizziness while spinning. There is also visual disorientation which can do the same, as well as many other senses whose cues can get messed up in an environment like space (or, say, at sea), and cause a psychological nausea.
You mention also being in a capsule, which offers another unique set of causes for motion sickness in space. If you imagine something like walking inside the rim of a spinning space station, such as in the film *2001*, you experience artificial gravity (as the force of the station’s “floor” pulling you into circular motion where your momentum wants you to fly tangentially outwards into space). There are three ways such a setup can induce disorientation and motion sickness, assuming the station isn’t freaking gargantuan:
1. Standing upright at the edge of this space station, your feet are moving faster than your head, and are “feeling” more of the artificial gravitational acceleration.
2. Moving in this rotating station (such as taking a jog a la *2001*), your body being tall relative to the size of the station, creates [coriolis forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force).
3. Moving outside the plane of rotation, like tilting your head to the side, just gets wacky (a “cross-coupled coriolis illusion”), and is considered the most significant factor in terms of causing motion sickness.
The good news is that recent research seems to indicate that you can mitigate all this with training and acclimation (so for the purposes of building a space station you don’t need to give it a 100-meter radius, which creates additional problems). [Most convenient source I can find for now on all this, which directs to further reading, is [Bretl et al 2001](https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/ng451j715), which also has a [lay magazine writeup](https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/07/02/artificial-gravity-breaks-free-science-fiction).]
Others have addressed what happens in the inner ear that causes disorientation and dizziness while spinning. There is also visual disorientation which can do the same, as well as many other senses whose cues can get messed up in an environment like space (or, say, at sea), and cause a psychological nausea.
You mention also being in a capsule, which offers another unique set of causes for motion sickness in space. If you imagine something like walking inside the rim of a spinning space station, such as in the film *2001*, you experience artificial gravity (as the force of the station’s “floor” pulling you into circular motion where your momentum wants you to fly tangentially outwards into space). There are three ways such a setup can induce disorientation and motion sickness, assuming the station isn’t freaking gargantuan:
1. Standing upright at the edge of this space station, your feet are moving faster than your head, and are “feeling” more of the artificial gravitational acceleration.
2. Moving in this rotating station (such as taking a jog a la *2001*), your body being tall relative to the size of the station, creates [coriolis forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force).
3. Moving outside the plane of rotation, like tilting your head to the side, just gets wacky (a “cross-coupled coriolis illusion”), and is considered the most significant factor in terms of causing motion sickness.
The good news is that recent research seems to indicate that you can mitigate all this with training and acclimation (so for the purposes of building a space station you don’t need to give it a 100-meter radius, which creates additional problems). [Most convenient source I can find for now on all this, which directs to further reading, is [Bretl et al 2001](https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/ng451j715), which also has a [lay magazine writeup](https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/07/02/artificial-gravity-breaks-free-science-fiction).]
Others have addressed what happens in the inner ear that causes disorientation and dizziness while spinning. There is also visual disorientation which can do the same, as well as many other senses whose cues can get messed up in an environment like space (or, say, at sea), and cause a psychological nausea.
You mention also being in a capsule, which offers another unique set of causes for motion sickness in space. If you imagine something like walking inside the rim of a spinning space station, such as in the film *2001*, you experience artificial gravity (as the force of the station’s “floor” pulling you into circular motion where your momentum wants you to fly tangentially outwards into space). There are three ways such a setup can induce disorientation and motion sickness, assuming the station isn’t freaking gargantuan:
1. Standing upright at the edge of this space station, your feet are moving faster than your head, and are “feeling” more of the artificial gravitational acceleration.
2. Moving in this rotating station (such as taking a jog a la *2001*), your body being tall relative to the size of the station, creates [coriolis forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force).
3. Moving outside the plane of rotation, like tilting your head to the side, just gets wacky (a “cross-coupled coriolis illusion”), and is considered the most significant factor in terms of causing motion sickness.
The good news is that recent research seems to indicate that you can mitigate all this with training and acclimation (so for the purposes of building a space station you don’t need to give it a 100-meter radius, which creates additional problems). [Most convenient source I can find for now on all this, which directs to further reading, is [Bretl et al 2001](https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/ng451j715), which also has a [lay magazine writeup](https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/07/02/artificial-gravity-breaks-free-science-fiction).]
Probably more dizzy.
Zero G means that your inner ear is already experiencing a situation it was not used to or designed for.
Spinning will introduce movement into the fluid in your inner ear that make it signal your brain with even more unusual stimuli.
Be prepared to puke.
>The “Vomit Comet” refers to a NASA program that introduces astronauts to the feeling of zero-gravity spaceflight.
>Recruits climb aboard a specially fitted aircraft that dips and climbs through the air to simulate the feeling of weightlessness in 20- to 25-second intervals.
>The downside? The sudden changes make a lot of astronauts feel ill. Very, very ill. Hence the tongue-in-cheek name.
source – https://www.livescience.com/29182-what-is-the-vomit-comet.html
Probably more dizzy.
Zero G means that your inner ear is already experiencing a situation it was not used to or designed for.
Spinning will introduce movement into the fluid in your inner ear that make it signal your brain with even more unusual stimuli.
Be prepared to puke.
>The “Vomit Comet” refers to a NASA program that introduces astronauts to the feeling of zero-gravity spaceflight.
>Recruits climb aboard a specially fitted aircraft that dips and climbs through the air to simulate the feeling of weightlessness in 20- to 25-second intervals.
>The downside? The sudden changes make a lot of astronauts feel ill. Very, very ill. Hence the tongue-in-cheek name.
source – https://www.livescience.com/29182-what-is-the-vomit-comet.html
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