The Gallaudet Eleven: The Story of NASA's Deaf Bioastronauts

Explore the history of the moon landing through this true story of eleven deaf men who helped NASA and America win the space race!

What did it take to put a man in space? To land him safely on the moon? It took years of research—and the help of eleven deaf men! What did they have that hearing researchers at NASA didn’t?

Take a look inside one part of the journey to the moon, and meet the Gallaudet Eleven: the brave volunteers who helped make it possible. These hidden figures played an important role in NASA's research, and it was their shared disability that made them so vital to the plan: their vestibular systems, a part of the inner ear, did not work, meaning they did not get motion sick. The Gallaudet Eleven were the perfect volunteers for NASA's spinning, whirling tests to learn the effects of space travel on the human body.

Whether it meant sitting in a tilting, spinning chair while researchers took notes, or boarding a special Air Force plane that allowed them to experience zero gravity, floating weightlessly in the air—the eleven "bioastronauts" always rose to the occasion, happy to help NASA's mission.

Informed by direct correspondence with actual members of the Gallaudet Eleven, Kerry O'Malley Cerra launches this important story into the spotlight. With NASA's new Artemis campaign working toward America's next goal of putting people on the moon's surface once again, there is no better time to learn more about this exciting behind-the-scenes look at the work leading up to the first ever moon landing.