The Rotating Room

Slow Rotation Rooms (SRR)

1958-1961: Greenmun at Pensacola, Florida
1961-1965: G-11 at Pensacola, Florida; Toronto, Ontario; Boston, Massachusetts

A man in a polo shirt, wrapped in a blue striped fabric. He holds onto the metal handles of a horizon balancing test device.

During rotation, David Myers, his body and head held in place with a Velcro wrap, was supposed to keep the lever to what he perceived to be horizontal.

The first slow rotation room was created at the U.S. Naval School of Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, when NASA was exploring the idea of creating artificial gravity in spacecraft.   Before being joined by the other 10 in 1961, Greenmun and a crew of Navy aides ate, slept, and did balancing and motion sickness tests during "runs" in the SRR lasting from a couple of hours to several days.

"We start the last run tomorrow. We are going to spin at a merry 10rpm. They have selected the three toughest [aides] and warned me that I'll probably have to play nursemaid to them."

-Greenmun

A man in shorts with no shirt bends over a box on a table with wires attached to it. He is adjusting buttons on the box.

Test subject Larson performed memory tests in the rotating room.

A white man wearing shorts and a belt (no shirt) has a blood pressure cuff on one arm. Behind him is another man, face hidden, wearing shorts and a striped shirt.

Researchers constantly monitored bodily functions such as blood pressure in the  Slow Rotation Room.

DAILY SCHEDULE

6:00 – 7:00 breakfast​

7:00 – 11:30 tests​

11:30 – 1:30 lunch, rest​

1:30 – 5:00 tests​

5:00 – 8:00 dinner, rest, socializing

8:00 in bed ready for nightly shifts. Everyone had to take turns keeping watch during a run.

Slow Rotation Room Tests
  • Stand with eyes closed on alternating feet​: Romberg test
  • Toss tennis balls into a waste basket​
  • Walk across a rail on the floor: Ataxia test
  • Sort decks of cards​
  • Toss darts
  • Adjust a dial to keep a glowing line in face mask visor horizontal
  • Open padlocks with memorized codes given to the research subjects before spinning
  • Hold a stylus steady in holes without touching the edges: Whipple Test for steadiness
  • Key in number sequences on a keypad numbered from 1-30
A man in shorts with no shirt bends over a box on a table with wires attached to it. He is adjusting buttons on the box.

In the slow rotating rooms the Gallaudet 11 often administered tests themselves to measure body functions, dexterity, perception, and memory.

A white man lies on a bed, covered by a sheet. He has one arm out and another white man leans over him with a large syringe, drawing blood from the arm.

Researchers tested for biochemical responses to hypogravitational environments by measuring blood pressure, muscle tone, blood sugar levels, and urine. Myers getting his blood drawn by a Navy aide.

A faded color photo of two card tables piled high with equipment, one wooden chair at each table. On a third table, three-ring binders are piled so high they fall over.
A white man in shorts, shoes, and socks (no shirt) walks on a low balance beam. His arms are folded across his chest and he is looking at his feet.

Harry Larson walking a beam.

Ataxia is the loss of control over balance and movement after being exposed to unnatural motion or gravity, and is characterized by toppling over. Though the G-11 already had difficulty balancing, they improved with practice. Visual input, a more reliable cue, helped the LD subjects gain their bearings and control ataxia. 

A man in a white t-shirt and shorts walks on a very low balance beam. His arms are crossed and he is looking ahead, at the end of the beam.
A man in a white t-shirt and shorts walks on a very low balance beam. His head is bent down to look directly at his feet.

David Myers and Ray Harper doing ataxia tests on a rail bolted to the floor.

Five drawings illustrating a test, titled A New Quantitative Ataxia Test Battery. In the drawings, a man in a military uniform walks on a low balance beam with his arms crossed.

"The experience with LD subjects raises the question whether such training should be given to all persons. That even LD subjects can improve their Test Battery performance with practice underscores the necessity of practice." (SP-77, p. 110)

“It is well known that normal and LD men show significant differences…and that LD men can compensate for the loss of vestibular function in certain situations.” (Crampton, SP-11)

Four men in white t-shirts and shorts sit around a table. One man, in front, is reading a newspaper. Behind him, three men sit in front of their food, one of whom is looking directly at the camera.

Myers, Harper, Kennedy and Greenmun ate in motion at the Slow Rotation Room dining table. Kennedy was the only one of the researchers to learn some sign language.

Twelve Days, Twelve Nights

"I could not walk during the first day - I had to crawl. By about the secon dday all of us got used to this environment."
- David Myers

The rotating room also spun future astronauts training in the Project Mercury program. At the time of these experiments, NASA was considering a rotating spacecraft to create artificial gravity and counter weightlessness issues.

A wide shot of a curved room. A full kitchen is visible, with one man preparing some food. Next to the kitchen is a shower with a curtain around it, one man is dressed and pulling the curtain. Another man sits at a small card table with a test device in front of him, and a fourth crouches on the floor almost out of site.

A composite picture of the kitchen and bathroom side of the SRR. Harper in on a test device, and a Navy aide is behind him at the kitchen.

"After we were done, we always signed the Log-Book outside. I especially remember John Glenn's name, and yes, we were told that he had thrown up!"
- Donald Peterson

"The slow rotation tests were a combination that would induce nausea and vertigo in almost anyone. Those were invaluable studies in the early days of the program when it was unknown as to whether motion sickness might curtail all that was planned in human space flight.”
-U.S. Senator John Glenn, April 10, 2015

A man wearing white underwear lies on his back reading a book. He is on a large padded blanket that has been folded to form a small bed.

Larson, reading on a makeshift mattress in the SRR.

"We don’t have to be pushed against the wall by the centrifugal force—we sleep with our heads to the center like spokes on a wheel.”
–Greenmun

A color photo of the rotating room, with a card table full of equipment. One man sits on the floor nearby, in the middle of signing something.

"[There was] a lack of communication between us and the researchers. We didn’t always get feedback, so it wasn’t clear to us what they wanted from us."
-Harry Larson   

Five white men pose for a portrait in front of the rotating room door. One man, in the front row, shakes the hand of a man in military uniform.

In 1965, the rotating room was used for a twelve-day run with deaf test subjects (front row) David Myers, Bob Greenmun, Harry Larson and (back row, right) Ray Harper. The Naval Air Station Commander, Captain C.P. Phoebus, greeted them upon completion of the run.

The Rotating Room