Motion Sickness

Living in space looks like lots of fun. You can do certain things in space (like floating around, or pushing huge objects) that you cannot do on earth. But being in space can do things to you, too. If you stay too long in a gravity-free environment, your bones could become weak, and a small spaceship just might annoy you after a while, because space travel could make you seasick!

On July 4, 1982, after seven days orbiting the earth, astronauts Thomas K. Mattingly and Henry W. Hartsfield returned home. Although not all of the experiments on board worked properly, the flight basically seemed to be a success except for one "little" thing: early in the flight, astronaut Hartsfield became "seasick".

Thomas Mattingly, who is also a jet pilot and is highly resistant to motion sickness on earth, did much better. Mattingly sailed through space with a steady stomach. But no one knows why Hartsfield felt uneasy and Mattingly did not.

So far it seems there is no reliable way to predict who will become motion sick in outer space and who will not. in all, at least four astronauts have suffered from space motion sickness. Russian and American scientists are working together to try to understand and solve the motion sickness. Space program officials worry that if so many highly-trained pilots get sick in space, what will happen when civilians start flying in the shuttle?

Motion sickness is a disagreeable feeling that comes from the pitching, rolling, swaying, or just the moving of the object you are riding in or on. Symptoms of motion sickness include: dizziness, headache, a sinking feeling in the stomach, and vomiting.

Why does motion make some people ill?

Doctors believe that motion sickness is caused by a disturbance in the inner ear. Our ears do more than give us hearing. A part of the ears gives us a sense of balance and helps make us aware of whether we are right side up or upside down.

If you know that you get carsick or seasick, what can you do?

Speak to your doctor. There are certain medicines available that can help stop that uneasy feeling. But many of them can also make you sleepy. Usually they work best taken before you begin feeling ill.

Some people also recommend water, ice cubes, mints, or plain toast. But these remedies do not always work for everyone.

Perhaps, since motion sickness is such a big problem in outer space, researchers may soon find a way to cure the astronauts - and those of us who stay on earth.

16 Floating in space for too long a time may also do harm to one's lungs and heart.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

17 At the end of the flight, Hartsfield became "seasick".

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18 Mattingly was much thinner than Hartsfield.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

19 Russian and American scientists are working together to solve the problem of motion sickness in astronauts.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

20 Untrained civilians are more likely to suffer from motion sickness in a spacecraft

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

21 The motion sickness some astronauts suffered from during space travel had been caused by the defective digestive system.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

22 People suffering from motion sickness during space travel can alleviate its symptoms by eating or drinking something.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

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