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Joint inflight biomedical experiments performed during the ASTP spaceflight

Two joint inflight biomedical experiments were conducted during the unique Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) spaceflight. One experiment evaluated rhythmicity of spore production of Streptomyces levoris. The other evaluated components of the infectious disease process by measuring alteration in: (1) the composition of the microbial population inhabiting USA and USSR crewmembers and spacecraft; (2) the ability of each crewmember's defense mechanism to resist infection; and (3) the ability of certain microorganisms to originate infections. These two experiments are described and the major results discussed.

Taylor, G. R.↗

Apollo-Soyuz experiments summary

The science and technology program conducted by the Apollo crew during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project consisted of 28 separate experiments including five conducted jointly with the Soyuz crew. Experiments were classified in the broad categories of space sciences (astronomy and earth studies), life sciences (particle radiation effects on living cells, the human immune system, and the vestibular system), and materials processing (electrophoresis and solid processing). Experimental designs and results are summarized.

Giuli, R. T.↗

Static free-fluid electrophoresis in space

The weightless environment onboard spacecraft in drifting flight has provided a unique opportunity to do experiments that cannot be done on the ground. High resolution free-fluid electrophoresis of particles proposed in the late 1960s to take advantage of reduced gravity began with brief experiments done during two Apollo flights. The recent Apollo Soyuz Test Project mission had two major experiments that accomplished the separation of viable biological cells. Experiments now are being planned for the Space Shuttle which will attempt to achieve high resolution of the separated species by using zone electrophoresis. These experiments will return a quantity sufficient for laboratory testing and establish the potential of fractionation and purification of biological materials in space.

Snyder, R. S.↗

The local interstellar helium density

During the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, an extreme-ultraviolet telescope observed the region of the sky from which the interstellar medium approaches the sun. The instrument had a tin filter whose bandpass included the 584-A line of neutral helium. The observations set an upper bound for the number density of neutral helium in the local interstellar medium of 0.004 + or - 0.0022 per cu cm, which is significantly lower than previously reported. The stated error is dominated by the present uncertainty in the solar 584-A flux, which is taken to be approximately 200 million photons/sq cm per sec at earth's orbit. The result is not consistent with previous resonant-scattering Ly-alpha observations of interstellar hydrogen passing through the solar system, which generally yield a hydrogen number density of about 0.1 per cu cm, unless interstellar helium is locally depleted below its cosmic abundance. The result is consistent with cosmic abundances if the much lower average hydrogen densities inferred from recent column-density measurements to nearby hot stars are in fact representative of the immediate solar neighborhood.

Freeman, J.↗

Analysis of results of ASTP experiment in electrophoresis

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) included an electrophoretic separation experiment of biological cells. The nature separation results of aldehyde-fixed rabbit, human and horse red blood cells, which were taken in the form of photographs taken at three-minute intervals, are the subject of this report. The electrophoretic separation was successful in that fractionation according to mobility did occur and was found in the sliced samples. Photographic evidence indicates that the low electroosmotic methylcellulose coating was successful in reducing the electroosmosis to a near zero value. Also, the flight film shows that the bands migrated down the column as theory would predict, producing two bands of high cell concentration separated and surrounded by regions of lower cell concentration. However, most likely some clumping of cells occurred to cause the trailing band to be larger than expected from theory. Overall, the experiment was a success in demonstrating a static electrophoresis separation under microgravity conditions with a resolution not possible on earth.

Vanderhoff, J. W.↗

Apollo-Soyuz pamphlet no. 1: The flight

The goals of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project are described in this first in a series of nine pamphlets designed as a curriculum supplement for teachers, supervisors, curriculum specialists, and textbook writers as well as for the general public. Aspects of the space flight covered include descriptions of the astronaut-cosmonaut meeting and of the spacecraft and landing module; spacecraft launch; control, and rendezvous; crew work schedule; and telemetry. Experiments performed are listed in tables, and their major results are summarized.

Page, L. W.↗

Methods for microbiological and immunological studies of space flight crews

Systematic laboratory procedures compiled as an outgrowth of a joint U.S./U.S.S.R. microbiological-immunological experiment performed during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project space flight are presented. Included are mutually compatible methods for the identification of aerobic and microaerophilic bacteria, yeast and yeastlike microorganisms, and filamentous fungi; methods for the bacteriophage typing of Staphylococcus aureus; and methods for determining the sensitivity of S. aureus to antibiotics. Immunological methods using blood and immunological and biochemical methods using salivary parotid fluid are also described. Formulas for media and laboratory reagents used are listed.

Taylor, G. R.↗

Analytical study of electrophoretic characterization of kidney cells

Embryonic kidney cells were studied as a follow-up to the MA-011 Electrophoresis Technology Experiment which was conducted during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). The postflight analysis of the performance of the ASTP zone electrophoresis experiment involving embryonic kidney cells is reported. The feasibility of producing standard particles for electrophoresis was also studied. This work was undertaken in response to a need for standardization of methods for producing, calibrating, and storing electrophoretic particle standards which could be employed in performance tests of various types of electrophoresis equipment. Promising procedures were tested for their suitability in the production of standard test particles from red blood cells.

Knox, R. J.↗

Growth-rate periodicity of Streptomyces levoris during space flight

Streptomyces levoris provides a suitable biological test system to investigate the effects of space flight on the rhythms of vegetative and spore phase characteristics of both growth-rate periodicity and culture morphology during the pre-, in-, and post-flight periods of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. The objectives of the American participation were to study the effects of space flight on the biorhythms of Streptomyces levoris based on a comparison of the growth-rate periodicity of the vegetative and spore phase within each culture, to examine the possible alteration of spore morphology and development by SEM, and to compare the effects of a 12-hr phase shift on the periodic growth characteristics of this microorganism in cultures which were exchanged during the joint activities of the space flight. No uniform differences in the biorhythm of Streptomyces levoris during space flight were observed. It appears that the single most variable factor related to the experiment was the lack of temperature control for the space-flight specimens.

Rogers, T. D.↗

Extreme-ultraviolet observations of nearby B stars - Constraints on hot circumstellar plasma

The extreme-ultraviolet telescope on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Mission observed several nearby stars of spectral type earlier than B3 in search of thermal emission from possible hot circumstellar plasma. The stars studied in the 45-185 and 114-185 A passbands of the instrument included Lambda Sco, Nu Sco, Beta CMa, Beta Cen, Sigma Sgr, and Alpha Pav. Diffuse emission around these stars in excess of about 1 billionth erg/sq cm/sec per sr/eV in the 45-185 A band and about 1 hundred-millionth erg/sq cm/sec per sr/eV in the 114-185 A band was not detected. The experimental data have been used to place upper limits on the emission measure of the plasma and the stellar-wind luminosity, using standard models. The data rule out the existence of sizable bubbles of hot plasma around any of the stars surveyed. In all cases the electron density in these regions, if they exist, may not exceed about 0.2 electron/cu cm.

Paresce, F.↗

Extreme-ultraviolet observations of dwarf novae from Apollo-Soyuz

The paper reports on EUV observations of four dwarf novae (SS Cyg, Z Cha, VW Hyi, and AE Aqr) in July 1975 during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which were performed by using pointed grazing-incidence optics and a channel-electron multiplier as a photon detector. An EUV flux in the range from 55 to 150 A was detected from SS Cyg during an optical outburst at an intensity level considerably below that of Rappaport et al. (1974). Upper limits are placed on the EUV fluxes from Z Cha, VW Hyi, and AE Aqr. Multicolor optical photometry of SS Cyg and AE Aqr is also examined which was obtained simultaneously with the EUV observations. It is concluded that intrinsic EUV flux variability is probably a characteristic of SS Cyg and that the same system exhibits an extremely large range of soft X-ray luminosities while remaining at about the same visible light level. Several models for the SS Cyg system are compared with the EUV data.

Margon, B.↗

Extreme ultraviolet dayglow observations with a helium gas absorption cell

During the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, an extreme-ultraviolet photometer with a cyclically operated helium gas-absorption cell observed the daytime sky from an orbital altitude of 225 km. When the line of sight pointed more than 60 deg from the sun, the instrument detected 2 to 70 rayleighs of flux scattered from neutral geocoronal helium at wavelengths from 504 to 584 A. The instrument also detected other radiation in the band 500-700 A of similar spatial distribution to the helium flux, which was definitely not due to the He I 584-A spectral line and which has not been detected by previous experimenters in data from 400 km altitude. Possible sources of this radiation are discussed.

Freeman, J.↗

Earth observations and photography experiment: Summary of significant results

Observation and photographic data from the Apollo Soyuz Test Project are analyzed. The discussion is structured according to the fields of investigation including: geology, desert studies, oceanography, hydrology, and meteorology. The data were obtained by: (1) visual observations of selected Earth features, (2) hand-held camera photography to document observations, and (3) stereo mapping photography of areas of significant scientific interest.

El-Baz, F.↗

Apollo Soyuz

The mission, background, and spacecraft of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project are summarized. Scientific experiments onboard the spacecraft are reviewed, along with reentry procedures. A small biography of each of the five astronauts (U.S. and Russian) is also presented.

Froehlich, W.↗

Shuttle safety

Experiences with batteries for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project are related and the need for safety criteria for space shuttle orbiter and payload battery handling and design is assessed.

Bragg, B. J.↗

Far ultraviolet photometry of intermediate brightness stars from Apollo-Soyuz

We present photoelectric photometry in the 1350-1600 A band of 52 stars of intermediate brightness, using data obtained in 1975 July with a grazing incidence telescope aboard the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Upper or lower limits on the brightness of 106 additional objects which were spatially blended with one or more companions were also obtained. The data sample consists of stars with V not greater than 7.5 and spectral types from O6 through A5. When corrected for interstellar extinction, the ultraviolet photometry on a two-color diagram agrees very well with the predictions of the revised blanketed model atmospheres by Kurucz. Attention is also drawn to an anomalously UV-bright object which is probably associated with HD 100493.

Crawford, R.↗

The local interstellar helium density - Corrected

An upper bound for the number density of neutral helium in the local interstellar medium of 0.004 + or - 0.0022 per cu cm was previously reported, based on extreme-ultraviolet telescope observations at 584 A made during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. A variety of evidence is found which indicates that the 584-A sensitivity of the instrument declined by a factor of 2 between the last laboratory calibration and the time of the measurements. The upper bound on the helium density is therefore revised to 0.0089 + or - 0.005 per cu cm.

Freeman, J.↗

Certain problems of space biotechnology

Experiments in the field of biotechnology conducted by the USA Apollo and Skylab space probes are described, as well as the joint Soviet-American Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Experiments in electrophoretic separation in space of biological compounds in a liquid medium are detailed. Space processing of vaccines and separation of human and animal cells are described. Methyl-cellulose, a coating for use in electrophoresis was developed. Erythropoietin, which stimulates the formation of red blood corpuscles in bone marrow, was obtained in pure form.

Gilyarov, V. N.↗