PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): Kathy Jackson 



EXPERIMENT TITLE/NUMBER : Motor Sensory Performance, ED41 



PROGRAM/MISSION : Skylab 4 



CLASSIFICATION : Human 



DISCIPLINE(S) : Behavioral science, Neurosensory 



OBJECTIVES : To measure potential degradation of man's motor-sensory skills in 

 the space environment. 



PROTOCOL : Using a visual maze with 119 holes connected by straight lines, 

 crewmen inserted a probe in each hole in sequence following the maze pattern. 

 Visual perception and motor response were measured quantitatively by recording 

 both total time required to transverse the entire maze and time required to 

 move the probe from hole to hole. 



EQUIPMENT : A standard eye-hand coordination test apparatus (developed by the 

 Dept. of Industrial Engineering at the U. of Michigan); audio tape recorder, 

 to record data as well as milli-second time marks; stylus, 5 in. long and 2 mm 

 diameter. 



RESULTS : Comparisons of pref light, inflight, and postf light data revealed no 

 significant changes occurred in the eye-hand coordination of crewmembers. 



CONCLUSIONS : Skylab astronauts were capable of normal motor-sensory 

 activities during flight. None of the crewmen experienced any noticeable 

 deterioration throughout the mission in performing tasks that required them to 

 handle experiments and controls. 



PUBLICATIONS : 197, 377, 500 



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