ESA astronaut Tim Peake set out to discover if he could make himself dizzy on board the International Space Station. His NASA crewmate Tim Kopra lent a hand to put Tim in a spin.
When astronauts first arrive in space, they usually feel pretty rough for about the first 24 hours. They report feeling dizzy, disorientated and sometimes nauseous. This has to do with the vestibular system. In microgravity the fluid in the inner ear is floating and so the brain is getting mixed signals compared to what the eyes are seeing. After about 24 to 48 hours, the brain starts relying more on information that is coming from the eyes. Once this happens, in theory, their brain is better able to cope with all kinds of different orientations and of course spinning…