Authors: Campbell, Mark R.; Garbino, Alejandro

Source: Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, Volume 82, Number 4, April 2011 , pp. 469-474(6)

Publisher: Aerospace Medical Association

Abstract:

Campbell MR, Garbino A. History of suborbital spaceflight: medical and performance issues. Aviat Space Environ Med 2011; 82:469-74.

The development of manned sub-orbital commercial space vehicles is rapidly occurring and flight testing followed by operational flights will soon begin. The experience of manned suborbital spaceflight at the designated altitude (100 km/62.14 mi) is very limited—two Mercury-Redstone flights, two X-15 flights, one inadvertent Soyuz launch abort, and three recent SpaceShipOne flights, with only 15 min of critical flight time each. All indications were that the sequence of acceleration-weightlessness-deceleration was well tolerated with minimal neurovestibular dysfunction. However, there are some indications that distraction and spatial disorientation did occur. Vertigo on transition from the boost phase to weightlessness was reported on most high-altitude X-15 flights. +G_z tolerance to re-entry deceleration forces (as high as 6 +G_z) after 4 min of weightlessness is still unknown. Only further suborbital spaceflight experience will clarify if pilot performance will be affected.

Keywords: commercial spaceflight; human performance; neurovestibular dysfunction; vertigo; Gz tolerance; push-pull effect

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.2921.2011

Publication date: 2011-04-01

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• The peer-reviewed monthly journal, Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine (ASEM) provides contact with physicians, life scientists, bioengineers, and medical specialists working in both basic medical research and in its clinical applications. It is the most used and cited journal in its field. ASEM is distributed to more than 80 nations.
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