LabVIEW Goes into Space Today Onboard Columbia Shuttle Mission

Graphical Instrumentation Software Helps Astronauts Improve Efficiency of
Motion Sickness Experiment

October 18, 1993 -- Cape Canaveral, FL - LabVIEW graphical instrumentation
software, from National Instruments, is aboard today's Columbia space
shuttle mission as part of a Macintosh-based research project called the
Rotating Dome Experiment that helps astronauts study how the conflict
between inner ear signals and visual cues contributes to space motion
sickness. LabVIEW is an integral part of a general-purpose, "intelligent"
system called Astronaut Science Advisor (ASA) that helps astronauts
conduct experiments more efficiently while in space. The ASA, also known
as the Principal Investigator (PI) in a Box, helps astronauts make the
most out of the short time allotted to an experiment while in space by
increasing their productivity and improving the scientific quality of the
data they collect. The ASA was developed by NASA's Ames Research Center
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

About the Rotating Dome Experiment 

The Rotating Dome Experiment onboard today's launch studies how the brain
interprets conflicting information between inner ear signals, visual cues,
and other sensory cues. Each test session involves two astronauts, one
acting as the subject and the other as the operator. The subject astronaut
looks into a dome that has dots rotating either clockwise or
counter-clockwise at one of three speeds. When the astronaut looks into
the dome, the brain receives information that the astronaut is rotating
either clockwise or counter-clockwise (in the opposite direction of dot
rotation). At the same time, the subject's inner ears send messages to the
brain that the astronaut is remaining motionless.

The subject astronaut is connected to five sensors. The first sensor is
connected to a joystick that the subject uses to indicate his/her
direction of motion. The second sensor, implanted in molded dental
compound, is connected to a bite board that is placed in the astronaut's
mouth. As the dome rotates, the bite board measures the torque generated
as the astronaut tries to keep his/her head vertical (it is a reflex to
try to keep one's visual field in the horizontal plane). The third and
fourth sensors are electromiographs (EMGs) attached to the left and right
sides of the astronaut's neck to measure head movements as the astronaut
tries to keep the head vertical. The fifth sensor is a dome tachometer
that measures the speed and direction of dome rotation.

The experiment tells scientists how the brain integrates conflicting
signals to tell the astronauts if they are motionless or moving in a given
direction at a certain speed. NASA has already conducted these tests on
the ground where the brain must also contend with information pertaining
to gravity. By conducting these experiments on the space shuttle,
scientists can measure how this interaction is affected by adaptation to
microgravity, because the brain also has to process information regarding
the lack of gravity.

Hardware and software for the experiment includes an external A/D box that
digitizes information from the sensors, a Macintosh PowerBook, LabVIEW,
CLIPS (an expert system shell developed by NASA) and HyperCard. LabVIEW
acquires and analyzes digitized data received through the SCSI port from
the external A/D box connected to the experiment stand. LabVIEW then
passes the analyzed information to CLIPS. The conclusions are sent to
HyperCard which displays differences between parameters for different
subject astronauts.

"We have been using LabVIEW since 1989 - we selected it because it was the
best Macintosh application software package for handling both data
acquisition and data analysis," said Dr. Nick Groleau, a knowledge
engineer with Recom Technologies at Ames Research Center. "Not only are we
taking advantage of strong acquisition and analysis capabilities of
LabVIEW, but also its interapplication communication capabilities -
primarily to pass data to CLIPS and HyperCard through Apple Events."

For More Information 

For more information about the ASA, contact Jane Hutchison, NASA Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-l000, (415) 6044968.

For more information about LabVIEW or other National Instruments data
acquisition and control products, contact National Instruments, 6504
Bridge Point Parkway, Austin, TX 78730-5039, (512) 794-0l00. Fax: (512)
794-5732.

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