Development and validation of a ground-based spacecraft docking simulator with vestibular perturbations

Sensorimotor impairment associated with spaceflight is very common in astronauts and poses a serious risk to future long duration space missions. Following G-transitions (i.e., takeoff and landing) during spaceflight, astronauts frequently display motion sickness as well as impaired balance, locomotion, and gaze stabilization. These impairments pose a significant risk for astronaut safety and mission success, compounded by the critical nature of many tasks that immediately follow g-transitions (e.g., docking a spacecraft to the ISS). Currently available training simulations for critical manual control tasks (e.g., VR or computer simulations) do not account for sensorimotor impairment associated with vestibular challenges in space, and therefore they are not equipped to address these needs. I propose the development and validation of a VR-based spacecraft docking simulator, that integrates a motion platform and galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) to simulate the sensory conflict experienced by astronauts after g-transitions. This simulator would serve both as a training device, to prepare astronauts to successfully perform complex tasks while experiencing vestibular challenges, and as a research tool, for performing controlled experiments to test the interaction of vestibular impairment with other stressors such as visual impairment or fatigue.

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