FEB 18, 2018 8:11 PM PST

How Astronauts Learn to Prevent Motion Sickness

WRITTEN BY: Anthony Bouchard


While some people might get motion sickness from merely riding inside of a car, astronauts have a lot more to cope with. When rising atop a rocket and entering microgravity, the physics around them seemingly change substantially.

After astronauts arrive in outer space, they dock with the International Space Station shortly after. They begin to float around and orbit the Earth at a high rate of speed. With all these abnormal movements impacting the astronauts' bodies at once, it's miraculous that they don't exhibit similar feelings of nausea. Or is it?

Before astronauts visit outer space, they undergo a particular kind of training called the autogenic feedback training exercise (AFT). Trainees learn to concentrate on something besides their surroundings, allowing them to withstand nausea-inducing situations like those that occur inside of a spinning room.

AFT isn't exclusive to astronauts, and anyone could learn to utilize it. It's merely a matter of distracting yourself from stressful situations so that you control your heart rate and other bodily functions. After mastering the exercise, one could blast off in a rocket and experience the microgravity of outer space without losing their lunch.

About the Author
Other
Fascinated by scientific discoveries and media, Anthony found his way here at LabRoots, where he would be able to dabble in the two. Anthony is a technology junkie that has vast experience in computer systems and automobile mechanics, as opposite as those sound.
You May Also Like
Loading Comments...