Specific Objectives: 1) To determine individual baselines of physiological responses and tolerances to spatial disorientation in a rotating chair test simulating the cross-coupled angular acceleration effects anticipated for Orion space craft re-entry; and 2) To evaluate AFTE effects for mitigating symptoms and improving tolerances to spatial disorientation.

Methods: Establish capability for providing remote AFTE training to any location. The study will include two groups of men and women, 10 subjects per group: Treatment - AFTE and Control no treatment. Each group will receive 4 exposures to rotating chair tests at one week intervals. All subjects will receive training on a manual dexterity and short-term memory task between tests 1 and 2. Subjects in the treatment group will receive a total of 6-hours AFTE training (two hours before the second, third, and fourth tests).

Deliverable: NASA Technical Memorandum and peer-reviewed journal article(s). We anticipate results of this study will demonstrate that AFTE provides crews with significantly better protection from the effects of spatial disorientation than adaptation training alone and without the side-effects of medication, thereby improving health,safety, and operational efficiency.

Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to two groups AFTE (N=10) and Control (N=10) and were matched for motion sickness susceptibility and gender. Physiological measures recorded were: heart rate, respiration, muscle activity of arms and legs, skin conductance, blood pressure, peripheral blood flow, cardiac output, and stroke volume. Procedures for all subjects included: a standard rotating chair test to determine initial motion sickness susceptibility; four exposures to a simulated Orion re-entry test in the rotating chair once per week; three training sessions on consecutive days for a manual performance task. In addition, treatment subjects were given two hours of AFTE training before simulated Orion re-entry test 2, 3, and 4 (total 6-hours). A standard diagnostic scale was used to evaluate motion sickness symptom severity on all tests.

Results showed that following two hours of AFTE motion sickness symptoms were significantly reduced during a simulated Orion re-entry in a rotating chair. As instructed during the training sessions, AFTE subjects were also able to maintain lower heart rates during the 3rd and 4th Orion simulation tests than the control group as well as a constant rate and volume of breathing, whereas the control subjects showed no significant changes in these physiological responses across tests. Trends show that performance parameters (accuracy and response speed) were less degraded for AFTE subjects. The results of this study and earlier investigations on AFTE indicate that astronauts could benefit from receiving at least 2 to 4 hours of preflight training and during missions could practice physiologic self-regulations using small mobile feedback devices.

The Physiological Adaptation Training (PAT) facility at Johnson Space Center (JSC) is currently used to pre-adapt astronauts to unusual sensory stimulation similar to that experienced in space. This study will examine the physiological responses to these stimuli and establish a capability providing AFTE to users within the PAT facility.

Specific Objectives: 1) To determine individual baselines of physiological responses and tolerances to spatial disorientation in PAT; and 2) To evaluate AFTE effects for mitigating symptoms and improving tolerances to spatial disorientation.

Methods: Establish capability for providing remote AFTE training at JSC and develop a protocol for testing participants in PAT. The study will include two groups of men and women, 12 subjects per group: (1) Treatment - AFTE + PAT and (2) Control - PAT only. Each group will receive 2 exposures to PAT at four week intervals. Subjects in the treatment group will receive 6-hours AFTE training in control of symptoms before exposure 2.

Deliverable: Peer-reviewed journal article(s). We anticipate results of this study will demonstrate that AFTE provides crews with significantly better protection from the effects of spatial disorientation than adaptation training alone and without the side-effects of medication, thereby improving health, safety, and operational efficiency.