IISc will show astronauts art of space walking

IISc will show astronauts art of space walking


Bangalore: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a platform for vyomanauts (Indian astronauts), who will be selected by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for space missions, to practise space walking and learn to deal with space motion sickness.
Many first-time astronauts experience space motion sickness when they are exposed to an environment with negligible gravity. The condition is caused when the brain receives conflicting messages from sense organs about the state of motion.
The wobble board, developed by IISc as part of a project given by Isro to study space travel, assesses the capability of human beings to stay steady in a low-gravity environment. It also helps in training them to remain stable in such conditions.
IISc is next only to the US space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), in conducting studies on space walking. The theoretical studies at the institute are conducted by SN Omkar, a faculty member, and his team.
“Space motion sickness is similar to seasickness or motion sickness,” Omkar said. “It is experienced by more than 50% of astronauts during space flights,” he said.
The symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, gastro-intestinal disturbances and fatigue.
“Our study helps devise training methods for better brain and body coordination to mitigate the sickness to some extent,” Omkar said.
“There has been no study so far to quantify the stability factor in a human being,” he said. “This is will be the first-of-its-kind study.”
The study involves making a person stand on the wobble board, which will be connected to a computer system. Readings of the movement and stillness of the board and the subject will be taken. A graph will then quantify the stability factor.
Isro will train its astronauts on the basis of the observations made by the IISc study, a member of the team conducting the theoretical study said. “Since we can now test how stable a person will be during space travel, the study will help select only the fittest people for space flights,” a team member explained.
An astronaut training centre is also expected to be set up at IISc.


Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_iisc-will-show-astronauts-art-of-space-walking_1373790