Vestibular Research Facility

The Vestibular Research Facility (VRF) houses approximately 2,000 square feet of laboratory space and 1,000 square feet of office space. The VRF provides a centrifuge and two types of linear sleds for ground-based studies of vestibular function. Support laboratories and office areas complete the facility. Both flight and ground-related science questions may be addressed using either humans or animals as subjects.

The VRF hardware has been designed to study the physiological responses to linear, angular, or combinations of linear and angular motion over a broad range of frequencies including the range of natural head movement. The VRF permits the study of how linear and/or angular accelerations are transduced, encoded by the vestibular system, and processed by the central nervous system. Questions that address the interaction of the vestibular system with the visual and proprioceptive sensory systems may also be examined. The VRF is equipped to enable anatomical, neurophysiological, and behavorial techniques to be applied to the study of sensorimotor processing by the brain. The VRF centrifuge and sleds can also be used in conjunction with other CGBR hypergravity facilities.

30-Foot Linear Sled
Programmable Linear Sled (PLS)
Multi-axis Centrifuge