The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Medical Report

140 Pages·2005·3.82 MB·English

NASA SP-411
The
Apollo-Soyuz
Test Project
Medical
Report
National Aeronautics
and Space Administration
THE APOLLO-SOYUZ TEST PROJECT MEDICAL REPORT
, ..
I
Ji
NASA SP-411
The
Apollo-Soyuz
Test Project
Medical
Report
Compiled by
Arnauld E. Nicogossian,M.D.
1977
Scientific and Technical Information Office
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC
For sale by the National Technical Information Service
Springfield, Virginia 22161
Price - $6.00
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Apollo Soyuz Test Project.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project medical report.
(NASA SP ; 411)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Space medicine. 2. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. 3. Space flight-Physiological effect. I. Nicogossian,
Arnauld E. II. Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. III. Title. IV. Series: United States. National Aero
nautics and Space Administration. NASA SP ; 411.
RC1l35.A66 616.9'80214 77-2370
FOREWORD
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was both an end and a beginning.
It was the final flight of the highly successful Apollo program. It was the last
time that three U.S. astronauts, tightly packed into a command module, would
launch from an expendable booster, elbow their way through space, and then
return gracefully to a salty splashdown.
But it was the first time that an international purpose to manned flight was
demonstrated. Joint docking and the sharing of quarters, experiments, and pro
visions have all symbolized the feasibility and the will of cooperative space explora
tion.
As we summarize the Life Sciences findings of this mission, we look forward
to the future. We are confident that international manned missions will continue
in ever increasing frequency and duration. We are also confident that we will be
able to support these missions and to insure the health and well-being of all space
travelers.
DAVID L. WINTER, M.D.
January 1977 NASA Director for Life Sciences
v

PREFACE
The Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first space flight to be conducted jointly by the two
leading nations in space exploration, the United States and the U.S.S.R. Thy primary purpose
of this mission was to test systems for rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft as might
occur in standard international space rescue missions and,consequently, to demonstrate the
ability to effect crew transfer between spacecraft. The secondary purpose of the mission was
to conduct a program of science experiments and technology applications. Except for minor
modification, the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft were identical with those flown on previous
missions. A specially constructed docking module was used in flight for crew transfer and
also served as the structural base for the docking mechanism that interfaced with a similar
mechanism on the Soyuz spacecraft.
This mission, officially known as the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), brought the
Apollo Program to a successful conclusion. While marking the end of an era, it also heralded
the beginning of increased international cooperation in the space age. The rescue of man in
space as a feasible operation on an international basis, should the need arise, was demonstrated.
This report details the results of the clinical aspects as well as the preflight and postflight
research studies that were performed on the astronauts. Because of the compromised post
flight crew health status, not all postflight research procedures could be accomplished. This
compromise was the result of the anomalous entrance of toxic gas into the spacecraft cabin
during the Earth landing sequence. Despite the exposure, the medical data collected are of
sufficient interest to warrant inclusion in this official ASTP Medical Report.
Only two joint U.S.-U.S.S.R. life sciences-experiments were included in this mission:
Microbial Exchange and Zone-Forming Fungi. The medical microbiological analysis of the
U.S. crewmembers is reported in chapter 13 of this report. The Microbial Exchange experi
ment, which includes the data from the U.S.S.R. cosmonauts, and the other six (U.S.)
science experiments - Quantitative Observation of Light Flash Sensation, Biostack III,
Zone-Forming Fungi, Cellular Immune Response, The Effects of Space Flight on Polymor
phonuclear Leukocyte Response, and Killifish Hatching and Orientation - are reported
elsewhere (see Bibliography).
A most impelling portion of this report is concerned with the entry phase of the mission,
when the crew was exposed to toxic nitrogen tetroxide gas, and with their subsequent clinical
course and uneventful convalescence. The problem was managed expeditiously and expertly
by the crew's flight surgeons and team of medical consultants, both onboard ship and at the
TripIer Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Apollo era has ended with the ASTP flight. Thus, a remarkable series of space mis
sions - prelunar and lunar Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP - has been concluded. These ventures
are now history, and the Space Shuttle era will further the understanding of man in the space
environment he has come to know and respect.
LAWRENCE F. DIETLEIN
NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
vii

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CONTENTS
Chapter Page
SECTION I. BACKGROUND
U.S. and U.S.S.R. Medical Negotiations and Agreements. 3
Arnauld E. Nicogossian and Willard R. Hawkins
SECTION II. CREW HEAtT H AND FLIGHT MONITORING
2 General Biomedical Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Arnauld E. Nicogossian, Eduard C. Burchard, and
Jerry R. Hordinsky
3 Crew Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II
Arnauld E. Nicogossian, Charles K. LaPinta, Eduard C Burchard,
G. Wyckliffe Hoffler, and Peter J. Bartel/oni
4 Results of Pulmonary Function Tests . 25
Arnauld E. Nicogossian, Charles F. Sawin, and
Peter J. Bartelloni
5 In-Flight Radiation Detection . 29
J. Vernon Bailey
6 Food and Nutrition. 33
Malcolm C. Smith and Rita M. Rapp
7 Potable Water 39
Richard L. Sauer
8 Flight Crew Health Stabilization Program 41
James K. Ferguson
SECTION III. PREFLIGHT, IN-FLIGHT, AND
POSTFLIGHT MEDICAL TESTING
9 Achilles Tendon Reflex . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Eduard C. Burchard and Arnauld E. Nicogossian
10 Electromyographic Analysis of Skeletal Muscle 53
v.
Earl LaFevers, Arnauld E. Nicogossian,
William N Hursta, and Joseph T. Baker
11 Cardiovascular Evaluations . . . . . . . 59
G. Wyckliffe Hoffler, Arnauld E. Nicogossian,
Stuart A. Bergman, Jr., and Robert L. Johnson
ix