Biosatellite III: Preliminary Findings
W. R. Adey 1,
A. T. K. Cockett 2,
P. B. Mack 3,
J. P. Meehan 4, and
N. Pace 5
1 Departments of Anatomy and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024
2 Division of Urology, School of Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627
3 Texas Woman's University, Denton 76204
4 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Souithern California, Los Angeles 90007
5 Department of Physiology and Anatomy, University of California, Berkeley 94720
Physiological deterioration in the male macaque monkey flown in Biosatellite III necessitated its recall after 8.5 days of a planned 30-day flight. For the first 7 days the only telemetered signs of a progressive general decline were falling brain temperature and lowered central venous pressure, which occurred in the last 3 days of flight. Fluid loss in flight was high, caused initially by sweating and later by diuresis, and appeared to arise in redistribution of blood in visceral pools as a consequence of weightlessness. Death occurred suddenly 12 hours after the flight and was caused by ventricular fibrillation.
