From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Re: ASTRONAUTS---What does weightlessness feel like?
Keywords: weightlessness
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lines: 26
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In article <1993Apr29.121501@is.morgan.com>, jlieb@is.morgan.com (Jerry Liebelson) writes...
> I want to know what weightlessness actually FEELS like. For example, is
>there a constant sensation of falling? 

Yes, weightlessness does feel like falling.  It may feel strange at first,
but the body does adjust.  The feeling is not too different from that
of sky diving.

>And what is the motion sickness
>that some astronauts occasionally experience? 

It is the body's reaction to a strange environment.  It appears to be induced
partly to physical discomfort and part to mental distress.  Some people are 
more prone to it than others, like some people are more prone to get sick 
on a roller coaster ride than others.  The mental part is usually induced by 
a lack of clear indication of which way is up or down, ie: the Shuttle is 
normally oriented with its cargo bay pointed towards Earth, so the Earth 
(or ground) is "above" the head of the astronauts.  About 50% of the astronauts 
experience some form of motion sickness, and NASA has done numerous tests in 
space to try to see how to keep the number of occurances down.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | The aweto from New Zealand
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | is part caterpillar and
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | part vegetable.
