RADIOBIOLOGIC EXPERIMENTS IN DISCOVERER SATELLITE XVII
On Nov. 12, 1960, Discoverer XVII satellite was placed on a polar orbit having a perigee of 103.1 nautical miles near 17 deg latitude north and an apagee of 538 nautical miles near 20 deg latitude south. The orbital period was 96.44 min. Biological specimens were mounted in the nose cone for exposure in studies of the biologic effects of cosmic radiations at the cellular level and to correlate the observed biologic effects with the types and intensities of measured cosmic radiations. The biopack cans contained cultures of human conjuctival cells and human synovial cells, spores of Clostridium sporogenes, ampuls containing algae, human serum gamma globulin. rabbit antiserum specific for human gamma globulin, three types of chemical dosimeters, packages of alanine, packages of albumin, silver-activated phosphate glass rods, stacks of neutron-sensitive film, step-plate packages of Dupont 552 film sets, nuclear track plates, and antimony foil. The radiation environment encountered on the flight included galactic, trapped, and solar cosmic rays. The satellite was on orbit during the second surge of a 3/sup +/ magnitude solar flare. The dosimeters are described and the identification of particles and dose measurements are discussed. Since no positive identification was made of the radiation encountered during the Discoverer XVIII rocket flight, the response of the detectors flown on this flight are reported in terms of rad equivalent of 730- Mev protons. Data are reported on the biological condition of the exposed specimens. Comparisons were made with control specimens. On the basis of the data obtained, it was concluded that the photosynthetic organisms are capable of living and retaining viability in actual space environments, that the algae Chlorella ellipsoidae could survive and function as a part of a life-support system when exposed to radiation levels for the orbital time period of the Discoverer XVIII satellite, and that none of a number of physiologic responses evaluated were detectably harmed by exposure to the environment encountered. (C.H.)
- Research Organization:
- School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Tex.
- NSA Number:
- NSA-16-032723
- OSTI ID:
- 4770257
- Report Number(s):
- AF-SAM-62-67
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-62
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- English
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CHEMICAL RADIATION DETECTORS
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