Do The Aerospace Spin
Sponsored by a grant from the NASA Space Biomedical Research Institute
How many senses do you have?
Are there more?
I see
dead
people.
Humans have at
least 8
physical senses.
Sense of motion
Sense of Position
Sense of hunger/thirst
The primary purpose for our
senses is
biological survival
The senses work in concert
to:
• find things we need to live
• give us a 3-dimensional view of
our world and our position
within it
• make us aware of relative
motion
• identify potential hazards
Can The Senses Be
Fooled?
Are the gray lines
warped or parallel?
Are the gray lines
warped or parallel?
Graveyard Spiral
How do humans
detect changes in
motion?
(acceleration and
deceleration)
Newton’s
First Law of Motion
Objects at rest remain at rest and
objects in motion remain in motion
unless acted upon by an unbalanced
force.
LAW OF INERTIA
Human Vestibular System
Robert Bárány
1876-1936
Austrian-Hungarian/Swedish
physician and otoneurologist
1914 Nobel Laureat in Medicine for
his work on the physiology and
pathology of the vestibular apparatus.
Structure of
the Ear
SENSING ANGULAR
MOTION
FIRST CASE
BRAIN
CLOCKWISE
ENDOLYMPTH
CUPULA
NERVES
INTERPRETS
SEND
DEFLECTS
ACCELERATION
FLUID
SIGNAL
-LAGS
CLOCKWISE
TO BRAIN
AROUND YAW
AXIS
COUNTERCLOCKWISE
ACCELERATION
AROUND
(INERTIA!)
THE YAW AXIS
SENSING ANGULAR
MOTION
SECOND CASE
BRAIN
NERVES
CLOCKWISE
INTERNAL
CUPULA
INTERPRETS
SEND
RETURNS
FRICTION
MOTION
SIGNAL
TO
- CAUSES
YAW
CONTINUES
RELAXED
TO AXIS
BRAIN
ENDOLYMPTH
ANGULAR
CONDITION
ACCELERATION
ACCELERATION
FLUID
TO MOVE HAS
AT
STOPS
SAME
STOPPED.
RATE AS CANAL
SENSING ANGULAR
MOTION
THIRD CASE
BRAIN
INTERPRETS
-CONTINUES
COUNTERCLOCKWISE
ENDOLYMPTH
CUPULA
DEFLECTS
FLUID
CLOCKWISE
NERVES
SEND
YAW
SIGNAL
MOTION
TO BRAIN
STOPS TO MOVE
ANGULAR
ACCELERATION
AROUND THE YAW
CLOCKWISE
(INERTIA!)
AXIS
WHICH WAY IS
UP?
FOR MORE INFORMATION
National Space Biomedical Research Institute
http://nsbri.tamu.edu/Education/index.html