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A set of devices for measurement of human balance orientation and eye movements in weightlessness was developed for neurovestibular experiments on Spacelab. The experiments involve astronaut motion, limb position changes, and moving visual fields, measurements are made of eye movements, muscular activity and orientation perception. This joint US/Canadian research program represent a group of closely related experiments designed to investigate space motion sickness, any associated changes in otolith-mediated responses occurring during weightlessness, and the continuation of changes to postflight conditions. The otoliths are a component of the vestibular apparatus which is located in the middle ear. It is responsible for maintaining the body's balance. Gravitational pull on the otoliths causes them to constantly appraise the nervous system of the position of the head with respect to the direction of gravity.

Approximately 43 percent of Apollo, Skylab, Soyuz/Salyut and Shuttle crewmen have experienced symptoms resembling motion sickness during their first several days in space. This paper reviews the the space sickness problem in both an operational and physiological context, and describes experiments planned by a team of vestibular researchers from the USA and Canada to study apace sickness and associated sensory-motor adaptation to weightlessness during Spacelab missions 1 and 4, and the German Spacelab mission D-1.