![]() People who suffer from muscle atrophy might be exposed to it, to stress their muscles more effectively.Ĭentrifuges could be key to long-term space travel, too. Here on Earth, hypergravity could be used to train athletes, providing an environment in which exercises could be conducted with more benefit in shorter time. Perhaps if astronauts were exposed to controlled doses of hypergravity before launch or reentry, then they might be able to tolerate high g-forces better than they otherwise would have.Īn easier ride to space is not the only potential benefit. This could cause astronauts to become dizzy or even, in extreme cases, to pass out.īy spinning people in his centrifuge, Cohen hopes to learn whether the heart's response can be conditioned. "Under these conditions," Cohen points out, "fluid weighs more." The heart has to change the way it operates, pumping faster, and working harder to push the blood all the way to the brain. They're exposed to hypergravity, too: up to 3.2-g at launch, and about 1.4-g on reentry. ![]() NASA is interested because it's not just microgravity that astronauts experience in space. His goal? To learn how humans adjust to changes in gravity - particularly strong gravity. He's been studying engineers, mountain climbers, teachers and other paid volunteers as they live for up to 22 hours in a giant, 58-foot diameter centrifuge. You remain in place, pinned to the wall by forces "as great as 3-g - or three times the normal force of gravity," says Malcolm Cohen, chief of the Human Information Processing Research Branch at NASA Ames.ĭuring the past few summers, Cohen has been spinning research subjects in something far more impressive than a carnival ride. It spins faster and faster until, suddenly, the floor falls away. ![]() Standing inside it, your back is pressed against the wall. There's a circular ride there that spins dizzyingly fast. Want to know what 3-g feels like? Go to a carnival. ![]()
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