Deaf Astronauts - The Gallaudet Eleven

Deaf astronauts are known to history as the 'Gallaudet Eleven' helped NASA to study how spaceflight might affect astronauts.

WASHINGTON DC -- Before NASA could send humans to space, the agency needed to better understand the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body. So, in the late 1950s, NASA and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine established a joint research program to study these effects and recruited 11 Deaf men aged 25-48 from Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University). Today, these men are known to history as the “Gallaudet Eleven."

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All but one had become Deaf early in their lives due to spinal meningitis, which damaged the vestibular systems of their inner ear in a way that made them "immune" to motion sickness. Throughout a decade of various experiments, researchers measured the volunteers' non-reaction to motion sickness on both a physiological and psychological level, relying on the 11 men to report in detail their sensations and changes in perception. These experiments help to improve understanding of how the body’s sensory systems work when the usual gravitational cues from the inner ear aren't available (as is the case of these young men and in spaceflight). "We were different in a way they needed," said Harry Larson, one of the volunteer test subjects.

Read More: 'Gallaudet Eleven' Helped NASA Leave Earth

The experiments tested the subjects' balance and physiological adaptations in a diverse range of environments. One test saw four subjects spend 12 straight days inside a 20-foot slow rotation room, which remained in a constant motion of ten revolutions per minute. In another scenario, subjects participated in a series of zero-g flights in the notorious “Vomit Comet” aircraft to understand connections between body orientation and gravitational cues. Another experiment, conducted in a ferry off the coast of Nova Scotia, tested the subjects’ reactions to the choppy seas. While the test subjects played cards and enjoyed one another's company, the researchers themselves were so overcome with sea sickness that the experiment had to be canceled. The Gallaudet test subjects reported no adverse physical effects and, in fact, enjoyed the experience. Test participant Barron Gulak later remarked about such experiments: “In retrospect, yes, it was scary…but at the same time we were young and adventurous.”

Based on their findings from a decade’s worth of experimentation, researchers gained insight into the body’s sensory systems and their responses to foreign gravitational environments. Through their endurance and dedication, the work of the Gallaudet Eleven made substantial contributions to the understanding of motion sickness and adaptation to spaceflight.

Deaf Difference + Space Survival is currently on display at Gallaudet University's Jordan Student Academic Center, open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. For more information, visit: https://www.gallaudet.edu/museum/exhibits/deaf-difference--space-survival-exhibit.

SOURCE - NASA

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Between Sound & Silence: How Technology Is Changing Deafness

Op-Doc: For a generation of people with cochlear implants, technology is transforming the experience of deafness.

NEW YORK CITY -- For more than a generation now, cochlear implants have, for some, been transforming the experience of deafness. In this week’s Op-Doc , “Between Sound and Silence ,” director Irene Taylor Brodsky delves into conversation with a cohort of Deaf people living that transformation.

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Herself the child of Deaf parents and the mother of a Deaf son, Brodsky delves into a complex realm where deafness and hearing, rather than absolute states, are territories of human experience to be bridged and explored.

The full story with video at New York Times.

SOURCE - New York Times

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ChatterBaby - A New App For Deaf Parents

Dr. mom creates app for Deaf parents that interprets baby's cries.

Parents learn the cries of their babies, differentiating between hunger, pain and just plain fussiness. Now, thanks to a new app, hearing-impaired and Deaf parents can tell when their infant is wailing and what is most likely the problem.

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The ChatterBaby app, developed by Dr. Ariana Anderson, uses sound frequencies and patterns of silence to interpret what a baby is crying about.

InsideEdition.com's Keleigh Nealon (Twitter.com@KeleighNealon) has more.

SOURCE - Inside Edition

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'Gallaudet Eleven' Helped NASA Leave Earth

NASA turned to 11 Deaf men ultimately played a significant role in getting the first astronauts off the ground.

WASHINGTON -- In the late 1950s when NASA was a brand new agency, the list of spaceflight unknowns was significantly larger than any list of knowns. And addressing that list called for some real creativity. When it came to dealing with space sickness, NASA turned to 11 Deaf men for a baseline, and these men ultimately played a significant role in getting the first astronauts off the ground.

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This specific run of tests was done in the 1960s as a cooperative venture between NASA test was a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine. The subjects were 11 Deaf men between 25 and 48 years old -- Harold Domich, Robert Greenmun, Barron Gulak, Raymond Harper, Jerald Jordan, Harry Larson, David Myers, Donald Peterson, Raymond Piper, Alvin Steele, John Zakutney -- from Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University) that specializes in educational opportunities for the hearing impaired. And their selection was far from an arbitrary choice.

Read More: Deaf Astronauts - The Gallaudet Eleven

The key here was in how each of these men lost their hearing. All but one was deaf after a childhood bout with spinal meningitis. Spinal meningitis can, among other effects, cause lasting damage to the vestibular system of the inner ear by killing nerve and hair cells, the structures that are vital to giving our brains information about motion, balance, and even spatial orientation. This is also the system that plays a huge part in for motion sickness. There are still some conflicting explanations over where motion sickness comes from, but the traditional explanation is known as the “sensory conflict theory.” This is basically a conflict to what your eyes see and what your vestibular system feels. If you’re reading in a car you won’t see any movement but your body will feel it. The result is feeling like you want to vomit. And sometimes just outright vomiting.

When it comes to space, this system stops getting gravitational cues that distinguish up and down, but your eyes still see things normally. It’s another set of conflicting information that can lead to a space sickness akin to seasickness. Which leads to nausea.

Fun fact, “nausea” and “nautical” have the same Greek root -- “naut.” That’s not a coincidence. This has clearly been a sea-faring condition for a while now.

Sensory conflict theory explains why a functioning vestibular system is necessary for motion sickness, and also why NASA was interested in testing Deaf individuals with a damaged vestibular system to study motion sickness in spaceflight. These men are virtually immune to motion sickness, so they could be put through the ringer on all the machines that would train astronauts for spaceflight, report any physical sensations, and give researchers a baseline without having to stop because of nausea.

And the tests were insane! One test had four men spend 12 straight days inside a 20-foot slow rotation room that kept spinning at ten revolutions per minute the whole time. The disorientation would make anyone sick, but these men weren’t bothered by it. Another test had them go through zero-g flights in the so-called “Vomit Comet” before scientists looked for the presence of stress hormones in their urine as an indication of stress on the body during the testing. Men who could hear had increased levels of certain catechols and steroids in their urine while the deaf participants didn’t.

In another test in a ferry off the coast of Nova Scotia, researchers wanted to see what would happen to the men on a boat in choppy waters. The goal was to see if the deaf participants could be made seasick to understand and determine the comparative effects in unaffected subjects, aka men who could hear. The Deaf subjects played cards and hung out while 15 of the 20 hearing participants got violently ill. The Deaf men only reported physical discomfort from the test as well as fear. The rough waters were so scary many feared shipwreck, but even the panic they felt wasn’t strong enough to induce nausea. Researchers measured their blood pressure, eye movement, digestion, and other physiological effects for a good baseline until the tests were stopped… because the researchers were too sick to continue.

Ultimately, these 11 Deaf men known as the Gallaudet Eleven did a lot to help scientists understand the challenges facing humans in spaceflight.

SOURCE - Vintage Space

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