PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (S ): E. R. Ballinger, and James P. Henry 



EXPERIMENT TITLE/NUMBER : 



PROGRAM/MISSION : Aerobee 2 



CLASSIFICATION : Animal - Rhesus monkey ( Macaca mulatta ) , Mice 



DISCIPLINE(S) : Behavioral science, Environmental health 



OBJECTIVES : To study the physiological effects of weightlessness. 



PROTOCOL : The monkey was anesthetized while the mice were not. They were 

 taken to a height of 236,000 ft. Heart rate, respiration, arterial and 

 central venous pressures were measured. Nine mice were placed in a separate 

 compartment to study effects of cosmic radiation. Two mice were placed in a 

 separate drum rotating at 12 rpm. One mouse was normal and one was 

 labryinthectomized. The mice had to climb over a small paddle while 

 performance was recorded on film. 



EQUIPMENT : ECG electrodes, small polyethylene catheters connected to statham 

 pressure transducers (flushed by 2 automatic syringes at 4 ml/hr with 

 heparinized saline), photography equipment, rotating drum. 



RESULTS : In the orientation experiment, the labyrinthine-defective animal did 

 not become disoriented during weightlessness, while the normal animal had 

 orientation difficulty. There was a delay in retrieving the capsule, and the 

 monkey died. 



CONCLUSIONS : During zero-g, the normal animal failed to use his vision and 

 touch sense to supplement missing balance cues. 



PUBLICATIONS : 262, 374, 477 



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