"With its padded walls, the subjects barely have enough room to lie down on the cabin's built-in cot," he explains. The participants in Cohen's study have to be less than 5'8" tall-that's because the outer dimensions of the centrifuge cabin are only 7'7" deep by 5'11" wide. 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. 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. Sign up for EXPRESS SCIENCE NEWS deliveryĭuring the past few summers, Cohen has been spinning research subjects in something far more impressive than a carnival ride.
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