Established Member
I'm justs curios on what the noticable differences are for people trying to sleep in zero gravity compared to sleeping on earth. The only real problem I can think of is the sleeper drifting around, but thats easily sorted.
So what are the other differences ?
Order of Kilopi
Posture: in free fall, if you're unrestrained you sleep with your various joints in the neutral position, as the tension in the muscles evens out. Hips a little flexed, knees a little bent, arms out from your sides, elbows bent, hands floating in front of you.Originally Posted by Bilateralrope
I imagine you might snore a little less, since that's often associated with the base of the tongue falling back and obstructing the airway in a supine sleeper - but I have no data to support that!
Grant Hutchison
Established Member
I would think floating around would be less of a problem then the effect of freefall (NOT zero gravity - there's a difference - zero gravity isn't gonna be found in sufficiant volume around Earth so that an individual may sleep in it) on the inner ear and organs...
I've only spent bare seconds at a time in freefall, but the whole way my inner ear and abdominal organs were *very* aware that I was falling. The bit about the organs is more uncomfortable, as gravity isn't doing it's normal job of keeping said innards in their usual place. I would think trying to sleep in extended free fall would be... uncomfortable.
Other physiological differences? Don't know...
--------------------------------
who said that?
Established Member
I've seen interviews of astronauts on television where they said sleeping in microgravity was rather nice.
Order of Kilopi
If you do not secure your arms, they will float in half-bent position with semi-opened hands right in front of your face. More than one cosmonaut woke up screaming at the sight of two hands reaching for his throat... his own.
Order of Kilopi
Ensure good ventilation, because your exhaled CO2 won't fall away.
Established Member
That's something I never thought about!
I would think that once your inner ear etc. got used to microgravity it would be rather nice. (Until then I suspect "space sickness" would be very unpleasent!)
Vulcan Administrator
There's also the concern about the hands drifting out and hitting switches. Most astronauts found a place to tuck their arms in order to prevent this.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Order of Kilopi
Did they dream in zero-G?
I ask because my mom was once learning German quite a bit, and when she dreamed, she dreamed she was speaking fluent german.
So I wonder if the astronauts had lots of dreams involving floating around..
...a silly question, I'm sure.
Order of Dr. Kilopi
I wonder if they have double sleeping bags for space? That would involve less sleeping though.
Established Member
Having just re-read Andrew Chaikin's book "A Man on the Moon", I have some information about the Apollo astronauts. Generally, they did not sleep as well in space (under freefall conditions) as they did on Earth. Some of them commented on missing the feel of a pillow. I imagine that the noise from the ventilation system would not make for a very restful background, too. On one of the missions at least, the commander and lunar module pilot practised sleeping in the LM simulator while playing tapes of the LM's ventiliation fans. I think mostly, the astronauts slept better on the moon in 1/6 g than they did in space itself. This was especially true of the J missions (Apollos 15, 16 and 17), during which the astronauts were able to take off their space suits and get more comfortable.
However, big caveat here: the difficulties they experienced could be associated with being so keyed up about the mission.
CO2 build-up was not a problem - the ventilation system in the LM and Command module drew air through a CO2-removing filter (lithium hydroxide). I would guess that all manned spacecraft currently in use would also do a similar thing.
Interestingly, during ApolloXIII, after they had powered down the CM, the astronauts tried to use it as a bedroom, but found it got too cold. At least one of them (Jim Lovell, I think, but am not certain) noticed that, if they stayed perfectly still, they built up a layer of warm air around their body. It did not convect away the way it would on Earth because of the effect of microgravity. However, the slightest movement disturbed this layer so it was of purely academic interst.
On the effects of freefall on the inner ear and stomach, I would guess that, if you were in freefall long enough to need to sleep, you would have got used to it by that time.
Order of Kilopi
Interesting stuff, Dr. Nigel. Here is a page with information on sleeping on the ISS (scroll down the page a little). The page doesn't format well on my browser, but it has some nice info. Apparently, about half sleep well, others have problems. Unlike Apollo or Shuttle missions, these folks have time to get used to the routine.
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Established Member
Interesting link, Van Rijn. Thanks.
"I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?"
Easy - napalm your back yard.
Order of Kilopi
Oooo... EXCUSE FOR EXPLOSIVES! I must be involved in this!
Established Member
MY elf is fireproof!
Established Member
Maybe, but the nalpalm will still stick to him, showing us his outline.MY elf is fireproof!
Order of Kilopi
Nah. Aside from the repair costs, the elf would probably just follow the deer over the fence before it landed, then would be back soon after ... Oh, I suppose in principle you might get it to vacate temporarily, but I wouldn't bet on it.
(FWI, we're in a rather well developed area, not what you would call "rural" by any stretch of the imagination, but we do live fairly close to a river. So it isn't too surprising to see opossums, raccoons, lots of squirrels, skunks, ducks ... and the latest, deer. We didn't used to get deer, but lately it isn't unusual to see one or two napping or munching leaves in the backyard ...)
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Order of Kilopi
Did you know that deer are more dangerous for your yard and your personal health than wolves? It's a fact!
(BTW: I'm a big Wolf fan, if you can't tell already).
Established Member
Still, it would be an interesting experiment... and it would discourage all those dangerous deer.
I assume they're dangerous because they harbour unpleasant diseases or parasites or something. In the UK, the deer are very shy, and typical back yards (gardens) are very small.
Order of Kilopi
Actually, the damage to lawns comes from hooves, as opposed to wolf paws. Alternatively, the bucks, during mating season, can be EXTREMELY aggressive, and not care what they charge (depending on the species of deer). As for wolves, they're almost universally shy and scared of humans. They can override that fear if they're starving like crazy, though. Still, if you find one on your lawn, most likely it's not after you. If it was, it would've ambushed you in an area it knows well near its territory, and you probably wouldn't have seen it before it charged at you.
Established Member
If I find a wolf on my lawn, I'll know I've entered the Twilight Zone. The only wolves in Britain are in captivity.
I'll also remember to avoid rutting stags...
Order of Kilopi
It's good advice.
Order of Kilopi
There have been no wolves here for a long time. I haven't seen one up close and personal, but there are occasional coyotes and mountain lions. Not common in our area, luckily (they have a habit of killing pets, among other things).
The deer keep coming into our yard, although I've run them off a few times. I wish the elf would take over ...
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Order of Kilopi
We can still firebomb your yard... (We've gone SO far off-topic, it's not funny)
Order of Kilopi
Not really. The earth is in space, so we are discussing "Life in Space." The deer sleep in the yard, and with sufficient explosive material, I am quite sure they would experience "free fall" or "zero gravity" ... at least for awhile.
See? Completely on-topic.
I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?
The Leif Ericson Cruiser
Banned
What about smacking your head into something?
Honored Member
So who chases the women over there?
Order of Kilopi
Aroo
Order of Kilopi
Actually, I've heard that the reduction in wolves is partly to blame for the boldness of mountain lions and deer in suburban areas. It used to be those animals were familiar with wolves, and would steer clear of them. Since there are usually dogs living along with humans, they'd consider them to be wolves, too, and having learned that wolves are dangerous, they'd stay out of the area. But without wolves around to teach them to be afraid of dogs (most dogs aren't all that threatening on their own), suburbs seem like nice, safe, lightly wooded areas with lots of easily obtained food, whether you're a deer or a mountain lion.
Member
Back to topic:
Sleeping in space will not change basic sleeping processes in the brain. The stages of sleep will be altered with the sleep disturbances found from sleeping in unfamiliar places, but they will still have stages 1-4 of sleep and REM dreaming.
There are many aspects of physiology which will likely be changed in space. For instance, when one lies down,the body intermittently moves on the bed to keep pressure sores and other effects from occurring. As this is involuntary, it will probably continue in space, so anyone there, will need some kind of comfy restraining system to keep him from moving all over the room.
Regarding the visual and vestibular systems these are quite seriously, esp, the latter changed in space. The balance system is cued to gravity. When that is gone, space sickness occurs, for which most take promethazine, which controls it reasonably well. The problem is that the vestibular system rewires itself, so that when an astronaut returns to the earth after a few months or so, any head turning is interpretted by the brain as a sudden accleration in the opposite direction from which the head turned.
That's very disorienting. No one is allowed to drive, much less fly until this rewiring problem settles down quite a bit. Some never get back to normal, either.
Secondly, as the visual system is gravity oriented, down is always to the center of gravity. As in orbit, it's zero gee, the visual system can't tell up from down. From time to time, esp. if one is upside down relative to the floor of a room, the visual system suddenly inverts the image, so one is visually upright again, even tho one is not. This can be very disconcerting.
Upon return to earth, this sudden visual inversion can occur at any time, another reason why astronauts do not drive for some time, as the vision will turn the world upside down without much notice.
I am told this can occur when one wakes up in space and is very, very disorienting, as the visual system has one upside down, when one is not, relative to the floor of the room.
There is no gravity or enough exercise to pump excessive body fluids out of the body, so some get quite a bit of space edema, which is usually treated with diuretics and low sodium diets. Awakening in the morning with a very puffy face is disconcerting and unpleasant, to say the least.
I don't know of any studies showing changes in sleep EEG patterns in space, tho, but they've probably been done.
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