Why Astronauts Can't Get Dizzy in Space (2024)

Many astronautsexperiencenausea and dizziness for the first day or two in orbit,as their body adjusts to zero-g. But once that adjustment period is over and the dizziness goes away, is there anything that can re-induce it?

Astronaut Tim Peake at the International Space Station decided to perform a small experiment to find out. With the help of Station Commander Tim Kopra, Peake curled into a ball and spun around as fast as possible to see if he could make himself dizzy. Watch the video below to see how it turns out:

According to Peake's observations, it seems to be very difficult to induce nausea or dizziness in zero-g. The only time Peake was even slightly dizzy was when he stopped spinning, and that dissipated in seconds.

In the first part of the video, Peake explains why it's so hard to get dizzy in space. When an astronaut first gets onboard the ISS, they feel constantly dizzy because the fluid in their inner ear is floating around in zero-g instead of staying put like on Earth. After the first couple of days, their brain adapts by essentially ignoring signals from the inner ear in favor of inputs from the eyes. Once that happens, it becomes very difficult to force the brain to start paying attention to the inner ear again. Only a very rapid acceleration will cause a dizzy feeling, and even then it will only last a few moments.

If you've ever wanted to spin around a bunch and not be dizzy, now you have your answer: Go to space.