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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Exposure to altered gravity results in acute sensorimotor impairment, including motion sickness, disorientation, and inhibited postureand locomotion. Astronauts will face severe health risks due to this vestibular impairment when engaging in a more active pilotingrole during future moon or Mars landings and/or during emergency vehicle egress or extravehicular activity (EVA) following landing.They adapt to these new environments over time, but the danger upon initial exposure to the altered gravity remains. Understandingthe underlying mechanisms of this adaptation process would enable sensorimotor impairment prediction and operational mitigation,but it is difficult to directly study the brain's neural mechanisms. My proposed research will result in a novel, experimentally validatedcomputational model of the Central Nervous System’s adaptation to altered gravity. This tool will be capable of predicting theneurovestibular adjustment experienced by individual astronauts, allowing us to investigate operational risks and countermeasureprescriptions including training, rehabilitation, mission scheduling, and more.
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