Headband (Right), Sleep Experiment, Shuttle-Mir

The night headband system was part of an experiment to monitor eye and head movements while an astronaut slept to understand better the quality of sleep in weightlessness. The headband was wired to collect data from the attached T-shaped sensors that fit on the person's upper eyelids. Data flowed to a small monitor worn in an armband. John Glenn participated in an experiment like this on the STS-95 space shuttle mission in 1997, and crewmembers on several shuttle-Mir missions also participated in this joint Russian-American science project.NASA transferred this unit to the Museum in 2012.