RESUMEN
A closed passive system independent of support from the spacecraft or its crew was developed to house five pocket mice for their flight on Apollo XVII. The reaction of potassium superoxide with carbon dioxide and water vapor to produce oxygen provided a habitable atmosphere within the experiment package. The performance of the system and the ability of the mice to survive the key preflight tests gave reasonable assurance that to mice would also withstand the Apollo flight.
Asunto(s)
Radiación Cósmica , Sistemas Ecológicos Cerrados/instrumentación , Sistemas de Manutención de la Vida/instrumentación , Efectos de la Radiación , Vuelo Espacial , Animales , Atmósfera , Conducta Animal , Dióxido de Carbono , Oído Medio/patología , Ambiente Controlado , Conducta Alimentaria , Gravitación , Hemorragia/epidemiología , Pulmón/patología , Ratones , Oxígeno , Potasio , Superóxidos , Estados Unidos , IngravidezRESUMEN
Pocket mice are facultative homoiotherms with the ability to drop their metabolic rate dramatically while at rest or in response to environmental stresses. Under these conditions, they characteristically enter a state of prolonged torpor. These animals require no drinking water and they can live in darkness for many months without apparent ill effect. They tolerate a wide range of ambient temperature, ralative humidity, and oxygen pressure and have survied without food for a mean of 14 d at an ambient temperature of 20 degrees C (68 degrees F). Studies carried out on the pocket mouse colony used for the Apollo XVII flight revealed, in the animals tested, no serological evidence of viral disease, no pathogenic enterobacteria or respiratory Mycoplasma on culture, a 25% incidence of sarcosporidiosis, and a 2% incidence of chronic meningitis or meningoencephalitis. The conclusion reached is that the pocket mouse is a highly adaptive animal and very well suited for space flight.