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When Space Makes You Dizzy
Astronauts returning to Earth sometimes feel light-headed. It's been a problem since the earliest days of human space exploration, but now doctors may have a solution.
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March 25, 2001
Landing a spaceship is a terrible time to feel dizzy, yet that's what happens to some astronauts. Their legs become heavy and their heads light even as the planet below expands to fill the windshield. It's an unwelcome side-effect of returning home.
Researchers have learned that the sensation is
caused, in part, by orthostatic hypotension -- "in other words, a temporary drop in blood pressure," explains NASA Chief Medical Officer Rich Williams. On Earth you can feel it by standing or sitting up too fast. Gravity has much the same effect on astronauts returning from a long spell in space: Blood rushes down and the space travelers become, literally, lightheaded.
Space Shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth. [more]
Image Credit: NASA Human Spaceflight.
Susceptibility is highly individual. Some astronauts are hardly affected while others feel very dizzy: About 20% of short-duration and 83% of long-duration space travelers experience the symptoms during re-entry or after they land. [source]
"Cosmonauts who spent a long time onboard Mir commonly had to be carried away in stretchers when they came home," recalls Williams. Fortunately, their Soyuz return capsules did not require a pilot to land, so it didn't matter much. Shuttle pilots, on the other hand, must perform complex re-entry procedures. To them it matters a great deal.
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Cheers,
Dan
When Space Makes You Dizzy . . .