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Show A3 Sunday, April 7, 1955 The Salt Lake Tribune, NASA Scientists Search for Clues To Mysteries of Space Sickness For unknown reasons, that By Edward Dolnick Boston Globe Writer WALTHAM , Mass. He would have left the panelists of "Whats My Line? scratching their heads. James Lackners job is spinning people in specially designed chairs or rotating drums or revolving rooms to see what makes them sick. He is very good at his work. Lackner, director of the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University, is one of a small group of scientists working to understand why four of every 10 astronauts become motion sick in space. It is a subject on which the astronauts are not forthcoming; running to the rail is not the right stuff. But the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is serious about solving the mystery. Its annual budget for research into space sickness is about $5 million. Early in the space program, motion sickness was not much of a problem, presumably because the astronauts were strapped snugly into tiny capsules. Matters grew far worse about a decade ago, when astronauts Associated Press Loserphoto had room to float and tumble and cameras as they arrive at federal court, Charlie Manson followers Sandra Good, drift weightlessly about their cabins. Sacramento, Calif., in this 1976 file photo. left, Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme motion to Motion sickness is rarely dangerous. Just as most landlubbers eventually get their sea legs, most astronauts stop feeling queasy after a few days in space. Brief and Costly But shuttle missions are brief, hectic and costly. As a result, dropping or delaying projects because astronauts are sick is no small matter. Lots of times its a choice between doing your science and keeping your lunch, says Charles Oman, associate Labdirector of MITs family members were given life sentences for the sain Cambridge and an expert oratory Editor's Note: Sandra Good and Lynette "Squeaky" distic 1969 slayings of starlet Sharon Tate and eight on motion sickness. Fromme, botti still behind bars, still consider themselves to other people. be active members of Charlie Monson's family even though An astronaut who vomited in his We dont have to talk to Charlie to be in contact they haven't seen him since 1971 when he and four others suit would be in serious trouble, space were convicted for the sadistic slayings of starlet Sharon with him, says Fromme, who was sentenced to life in so space walks are put off until misTote ond eight other people. Good is refusing an early 1975 for the attempted assassination of President Gersions are well under way, and astrorelease, largely because she Is barred from visiting Manson ald Ford. In the California prison where he Is being held. nauts work on empty stomachs. Fromme will be eligible for parole next year. Good There has been some progress in sentence she has served nearly 10 years of a the problem. Space understanding By Strat Douthat received at Sacramento, Calif., in 1976 for conspiring sickness now appears to be a variant Associated Press Writer to send death threats through the mails to corporate of the familiar earthly variety, not an ALDERSON, W.V- a- Sandra Goods bright blue officials she accused of poisoning the environment. exotic new ailment. In Omans sumeyes still light up when she recalls the day, nearly 20 with a mandatory good time release, she mary: The bottom line on all this is faced Now, years ago, that she first met the family of Charles that theres now much more evidence is refusing to leave the Federal Correctional InstituManson, leader of a murderous California cult. than there was two years ago that tion at Alderson because U.S. Parole Commission offiI was a student at San Francisco State, recalls the cials have decreed she must go to a halfway house in space sickness is motion sickness, former surfer girl who late last month re- and is just a normal human response New Jersey and receive treatment in a mental health fused to leave prison. The year was 1967 and I really to an abnormal environment. not to she will be Aiso, permitted associate wasnt a political person at the time, although I was program. The next shuttle flight, now schedwith Manson family members or visit Manson, who is frustrated and angry about the war in Vietnam. uled for April 12, may bring some imprisoned at Vacaville, Calif. She met Manson through an artist friend from San more answers. Utah Sen. Jake Garn, Good says it was the Manson prohibition that most Francisco. who will become the first her. bothers to travel in space, has volunHe was going down to Los Angeles to sell some All I wanted to do when I got out was to get a teered to serve as a motion sickness paintings and he kept raving about this guy there he bicycle, put in a garden, and, in an orderly way visit guinea pig, a role that no astronaut had met, Good said during a recent interview in the Manson," she said after refusing the terms of her rehas been vying for. for federal staff library at the nations only prison lease late last month. Its my right to go to my home women. Microphones on Stomach state. Its my right to be in the same town with the man will have microphones atGarn Youve got to meet him, he kept telling me, but I Ive waited 16 years to see. tached to his stomach to record how didnt care about that. All I wanted was a free plane his digestive system fares in weightride to Los Angeles so I could go to the beach. Henry Grinner, a hearing examiner for the federal lessness. He will swallow Tylenol movie-separole commission, says California authorities didnt t Instead, she went to the dusty, abandoned want Good returned to the state for fear her presence capsules and take saliva samples to ranch where Manson and his followers were living. see how medication is absorbed. He might be a catalyst for reviving the activities of the I was really impressed, Good says, not so much Mansion family. He said a hearing would be conducted e will also conduct coordiwith Manson at first as with the gracious way the in 60 days to determine whether Good should stay in out a nation and experiments, carry each treated the were way they living there, people for the remainder of her sentence. of other tests. prison variety other. People were cooking and sewing, doing useful In the past few weeks Good has been interviewed on In each mission the crew had prithings. They were happy and there were no books. I via radio California several stations, telephone, on mary things to accomplish . . . , gethad been getting everything from books, intent several Californians to write the prison, Garn at a recent news conprompting I explained taken the with was and a way really ting degree, she not be released. that In ference. requesting case, I think I can be my these people were living. in providing maybe a few Good has been Sizer Warden However, helpful says Gwynne of communal Enchanted with the simple, lifestyle more pieces of the puzzle in the space a model prisoner at Alderson, a medium-securitthe family, she never returned to San Francisco of Charlies followers motion and adaptability area. both where campus-styl- e prison most devoted one Mansons of Soon was she State. dormitoin same the live but as dont work In an attempt to identify and argardeners followers, to the point that she bore him a child and ry. They do see each other daily, however. range those puzzle pieces, Brandeis carved a deep X in her forehead to demonstrate her Lackner presides over a large and She has never caused any problem here, says the everlasting fidelity. ominous array of test devices, though warden. She also adopted the name Blue. he emphasizes that experiments alto Manson access she was Good barred being says Blue stands for clean air and water, says Good, of a ways stop well short of the point as of the because group being familys image who was clad in blue corduroy pants, a blue sweater where subjects actually become sick. killers. bloodthirsty to her and a bandana of the same color. Seated next The research center, a joint venwas Red, Lynette Squeaky Fromme, another Man-so- n The presumption that Id break the law or cause of NASA and Brandeis, is named ture at to Alderson. harm waves is false, she says. I did not intend family member serving time in honor of Ashton Graybiel, a pioBlue and I are one, says Fromme, whose chosen anyone. The media has created a monster image of the neer investigator of motion sickness. Manson family. color symbolizes animals and earth tones. We stand In one of the odder examples of contion the same earth, breathe the same air, and must As she spoke she fingered a wool scorpion necklace nuity in a family business, Lackner is drink the same water. Manson made in prison. Graybiels The two women still consider themselves to be acHe picks his socks apart and makes them from the In one corner of the lab sits a tive members of Mansons family even though they thread, she explains. Charlie is very good with his chair outfitted with seat belts havent seen him since 1971, when he and four other hands. and head and leg restraints, and connected to motors that swing the chair and its occupant up and down, back and forth. The chair will be used in preflight training for astronauts. The reasoning is complicated, but the hope is have donated $250,000 to buy precious lied prisoners of war. In 1949, she reBy Ted Chan United Press International stones to place in the urn with the turned to Thailand with the ashes of that "test runs in the moving chair will help them adapt to the conditions her husband and was given an emoBANGKOK queens ashes, according to Deputy Queen Rambhai they will later confront in an actual Bhichai Prime Minister tional link to Rattakul, Thailands the last reception. Bharni, commitof the organizing chairman The cremation proceedings space flight. days of absolute monarchy, will be tee. Foreigners are barred from cremated this week in an elaborate In another corner is a large drum, planned for her date back nearly 400 and tradition-ric- h viewing the urn. like a giant tin can whose long axis is ceremony held years to the ancient Khmer, who included most of what is now Thailand parallel to the ground. Volunteers are Queen Rambhai, popular for her nearly a year after her death. in their Hindu empire. charitable work and engaging humor, Six months of intense preparations strapped into a blue, fiberglass body is the last link to Thailands absolute mold. Then the motor is turned on and $1.03 million have gone into the Traditional Rules Modified of As the Tuesand they are rotated in barbecue spit for scheduled cremation grandaughter monarchy. royal Traditional rules have been modiKing Mongkut, she lived in the Grand day, the first in Thailand since 1954. for public attendance. A private mode. fied Palace and at the age of 14 married For the ceremony, the government In one key finding, test runs in that citizen today need only dress neatly, Prince Prajadhipok, who became crematoribuilt a lavish a far cry from ancient customs when machine disproved a 1925. king in um and renovated an ancient white had to be worn and heads were explanation for space sickness. The In June 1932, his opponents carried funeral carriage housed in the shaven. notion had been that changes in fluid out a coup and instituted the most National Museum. distribution in the inner ear played a At the beginning of the ceremony, profound political change in Thai hisThe will be borne on a gilded urn the key role. But the spinning drum percarriage, called a switch from absolute montory mits close control of fluid distributhree-pol- e the "Royal Great Victory Chariot, and taken to the fulitter archy to constitutional democracy. will transport the queens body to the neral procession waiting at Wat Po, tion, and Lackner found that "no matFirst Constitution crematorium. Covered with gold leaf, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. ter how we manipulated fluid shift, the decorated with colored glass and susceptibility was about the same." King Prajadhipok accepted Led by a vanguard of five battalstudded with handcarved serpent If they can send a man to the moon, changeover and in December 1932 ions of troops in dress uniform, rows heads the symbol of the Thai queen gave the nation its first constitution. of drummers, trumpeters, why cant they keep him from turning it is considered one of the countrys Two years later, his eyesight failgreen on the way? and pages carrying umbrelmost beautiful works of art. las and sun shades, the n funeral ing, he left for Europe with Queen Experts agree that the answer, Lies in Gold Urn Rambhai to seek medical treatment. carriage, pulled by 400 men, will though still only poorly understood, in The king abdicated the throne travel almost two miles to the creSince her death May 22, 1984, of a has something to do with "sensory matorium at Phra Maine Grounds hart attack at the age of 79, Queen March 1935 and lived in conflict." As he tries to adapt to being Thai for "a cremation field. exile in London until his death in 1941 Rhambhais body has been lying weightless in space, an astronaut who at age 48. curled in a fetal position in a The area, popularly known as knows instinctively which way is up The queen stayed in London during Sanam Luang, is in the shadow of the on Earth is confronted with a jumble octagonal urn near the Grand Palace. World War II, joining the Red Cross Grand Palace and has been the site of of unfamiliar messages from eyes, to tend the wounded and prepare Thousands of Thais have visited royal cremations since the beginning muscles and the balancing organs of medical supplies and parcels for Al- - of the current Chakri Dynasty in 1782. the inner ear. the urn to pay their last respects and Enchanted With Simple, Communal Lifestyle Mansons Girls Remain Faithful To the Head of the Family Man-Vehic- suddenly feel you're In a strange orientation, and that can knock you right off if youre already feeling it a little bit." Similar Experiments Oman has carried out experiments on Earth with similarly distressing outcomes. In one, he outfitted a volunteer with glasses that reversed left and right footsteps approaching from the left would belong to a person appearing from the right. Then Oman asked the volunteer to draw a clock on the blackboard. He tried, but became sick almost at once, because of the disparity between where he felt his hand was and where his eyes told him it was. The notion of sensory conflict is not new, but Oman says its interpretation has changed through the years. The old idea was of a conflict between the senses between messages from the but many people eyes and ears now think of it as a conflict between what you actually experience and what you anticipated youd experi- ence. On Earth, too, Oman says, people often feel queasy when they cannot anticipate what will happen next. The driver of a car almost never gets motion sick, for instance, though passengers often do. For similar reasons, young children are more prone to car sickness than older ones. Nor do pilots grow airsick while at the controls, even though they are not immune when traveling as passengers. Pilots along for the ride in a small plane have learned that taking the controls quickly quells sickness. Frustratingly Difficult Coping with space sickness has proved frustratingly difficult. Among the litany of attempted remedies or training procedures: medication, meditation, acupuncture, glasses that reverse up and down or left and right, test runs in whirling seats and diving airplanes. No one knows how to predict which unlucky souls will be susceptible to space sickness. Experienced pilots who have withstood the worst that airplanes can hand them have often fallen ill In space, for Instance. Others who fired poorly in planes or tests have found their space missions smooth sailing. There have been limited advances. Astronauts have found that head movements are bad (nauseogenic," in the jargon of the motion sickness movescientists), and ments are worst of all. That knowledge is familiar to queasy sailors, who know they are best off lying on their back, keeping their head still. But unlike sailors, who can never escape the rolling, pitching seas, astronauts can seek relief by getting wedged curling up in a tight corner, wedged into their bunk so they can stop drifting. Some drugs have shown promise, though problems of unacceptable side effects such as drowsiness or remain unimpaired coordination solved. But experts are not confident that an answer will be soon in coming. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?" Lackner asks. Well, we may have found the tunnel, at least. The idea of sensory conflict, he maintains, is less helpful than it appears, more a label than a scientific theory. "Its consistent with everything in general, but it doesnt tell us anything in particular given'a new situation that no ones ever tried, it doesnt give any good way of predicting whether the situation will be stressful or not. One problem in studying motion sickness is that there is no godd animal model to help scientists understand and treat the ailment. Dogs and even fish get green around the gills, but for unknown reasons drugs that help quell motion sickness in humans dont seem to work with dogs. Because of such difficulties, researchers have taken on space sickness from a variety of angles?. For Lackner, Oman and other academic scientists, space sickness is oiHy bne small part of the much more general problem of how the body orients itself when confronted with novel land-base- d Guaranteed Daily Bus tours to the SIB mm ora ut hand-to-ey- confu- sion often triggers sickness. For instance, the crews dont like to see other crewmen upside down, notes MITs Oman. Youre off somewhere working hard when, out of the corner of your eye, you catch sight of someone with his feet on the ceiling. You CURIOS. Finally a guaranteed daily bus service from Salt Lake, Ogden, Roy and Clearfield to the State-Lin- e and Silver Smith casinos in Wendover, Nevada. Talk about convenience. BUS SERVICE FROM SALT LAKE, OGDEN, ROY, & CLEARFIELD. 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