PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S ): W. Royce Hawkins, and John F. Zieglschmid 



EXPERIMENT TITLE/NUMBER : Clinical Aspects of Crew Health 



PROGRAM/MISSION : Apollo 



CLASSIFICATION : Human 



DISCIPLINE(S) : Environmental health 



OBJECTIVES : To insure crew safety from a medical standpoint, insure 

 sufficient medical information for management decisions, prevent 

 back-contamination from the lunar surface, and further the understanding of 

 biomedical changes incident to space flight. 



PROTOCOL : Pref light medical screening and examination, health stabilization, 

 drug sensitivity testing, medical training, inflight biotelemetry, diagnosis 

 and treatment, and post-flight physical examinations were performed. 



EQUIPMENT : Biosensor harness, Biobelt assembly, EKG, cardiotachoraeter , 

 impedance pneumograph, medical kit. 



RESULTS : Apollo crews reported cephalad fluid shifts, soreness of back 

 muscles, insomnia, and motion sickness. Postf light resting and stressed heart 

 rates were elevated in almost all crewmen, heart size was decreased 

 approximately five percent, and there was some degree of cardiovascular 

 deconditioning, reduction of red blood cell mass, and musculoskeletal 

 deterioration. 



CONCLUSIONS : The Apollo astronauts did not encounter any major medical 

 problems. Those physiological changes which did occur were all reversable 

 within a two to three day period postflight with the exception of the Apollo 

 15 crew. It took two weeks for them to completely return to pref light 

 baselines. A sound medical basis existed for committing man to the prolonged 

 space flight exposure to Skylab. 



PUBLICATIONS : 82, 251, 460 



29 



