The US space agency NASA will soon begin allowing its astronauts to test the simulator Kraken, originally developed by the US Navy.
Kraken can best be described as a giant washing machine that tosses around whoever is inside the simulator at accelerations that can reach three times Earth’s gravity. The idea behind letting astronauts test Kraken is to try to prepare for and perhaps prevent the motion sickness that astronauts sometimes experience when returning to Earth from space. NASA writes:
Enter the Kraken, a 50-foot-long, 100-ton platform at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It can be configured to replicate different types of flight to disorient occupants through sudden shifts in roll, pitch, and yaw, superimposed onto horizontal and vertical lurches. A spaceflight setting on the Kraken will allow NASA scientists to study whether a specific technology, coupled with head movements, may help soothe the motion sickness experienced by some astronauts.
–nasa.gov
In the video below, you can see what it looks like when Kraken is tested by the US Navy.
