While much of the attention around America’s return to the Moon focuses on rockets, capsules, and astronaut training, some of the most important work is happening quietly on the ground in a centrifuge lab in Ohio. Navy researchers are now calling for volunteers to take part in a unique study that could make future lunar missions safer and more effective for the men and women who will actually walk on the Moon.
The study, known as StableEyes with Active Neurophysiology Monitoring (or SWAN), is a collaboration between the Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and NASA’s Human Research Program. Its goal is straightforward but critical: to better understand how the human brain and inner ear adapt to the dizzying changes in gravity and acceleration that astronauts will face when traveling from Earth’s 1g environment to the weightlessness of space and then to the one-sixth-gravity of the lunar surface.
Motion sickness in space isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s a real operational challenge. Sensory conflicts in the vestibular system can affect balance, coordination, and performance at the worst possible moments. By exposing carefully screened volunteers to controlled acceleration profiles in a high-tech centrifuge, researchers can simulate aspects of spaceflight deconditioning and test mitigation techniques. Participants wear specialized goggles that track eye and head movements while performing tasks that measure their response to these conditions.
“The participants’ physical readiness for the unique aspects of the centrifuge exposure, coupled with the need to have reasonable astronaut analog subjects, is key,” said Rich Folga, the SWAN project manager assigned to Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton. “Having an aeromedical clearance notice from a competent flight medicine examiner ensures candidates have ‘the right stuff.'”
This isn’t abstract science. The findings will directly support NASA’s Artemis program, which is steadily working toward sustainable human presence on the Moon. With Artemis II having completed its crewed orbital mission around the Moon last year and future landings on the horizon, understanding how humans handle these gravity transitions has never been more relevant. The research also has benefits closer to home, potentially improving safety for military aviators who face extreme G-force environments.
Dayton has a proud legacy in this field. Naval medical researchers here contributed to astronaut training and physiological studies during the original Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras. As Richard Arnold, director of NAMRU Dayton’s Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, put it: “Dayton has been at the center of aerospace medicine for decades… This collaboration continues that legacy by bringing together Navy, Air Force, and NASA scientists to solve challenges that will help enable future missions to the moon and beyond.”
Who can participate? The criteria are specific but not impossible for the right candidates. Volunteers must be active-duty military or TRICARE beneficiaries, between 18 and 55 years old, between 5 feet and 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weigh between 88 and 245 pounds. They need current aviation medical clearance and cannot have undergone centrifuge training in the past 72 hours. Importantly, participants should not be prone to moderate or severe motion sickness, as the study profiles are intentionally challenging.
Active-duty service members and federal employees must participate while on leave or off duty if seeking monetary compensation, though experimental hazardous-duty incentive pay may be available for those on duty.
If you meet these requirements and are interested in contributing to America’s space future while helping advance both astronaut safety and military aviation medicine, the research team wants to hear from you. Simply email NAMRU.DRD.Scheduling@us.af.mil to learn more or express interest.
In an age when space exploration often feels dominated by billion-dollar hardware and celebrity astronauts, it’s worth remembering that progress also depends on ordinary service members and TRICARE-eligible individuals willing to spin in a centrifuge for science. These volunteers aren’t just riding a high-tech carnival ride—they’re helping solve one of the fundamental human challenges of deep-space travel.
The next chapter of lunar exploration is being written right now, in part by people who raise their hand and say they’re ready to help. If that sounds like you, the Moon mission needs your input—literally.
