You are probably familiar with the premise of “Ocean’s Eleven,” a team of highly specialized criminals take down a seemingly impenetrable casino vault. But are you familiar with the Gallaudet Eleven? In the 1950s, 11 men were recruited from Gallaudet University to help study the effects of extended exposure to weightlessness on the human body. What made this team of men so unique was that most team members had acquired spinal meningitis, which severely damaged their vestibular systems in addition to impairing their hearing. This profound vestibular hypofunction essentially made them impervious to motion sickness and ideal candidates for NASA to study. Read the full story.
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