space medicine: Inertial Forces

Inertial forces due to acceleration are experienced only during liftoff and reentry, but the consequences can be traumatic. The circulatory system is most strongly affected; deprivation of blood to the brain causes dimming of vision and sometimes loss of consciousness. However, lying on a body-contoured couch, astronauts have survived inertial forces eight times stronger than normal gravity.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• A Closed Environment
• Absence of Day and Night
• Ionizing Radiation
• Inertial Forces
• Weightlessness
• Bibliography

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