Two goals were formulated for computer analysis of Biosatellite III data: 1)
a short term analysis to assist in animal monitoring and mission abort decisions
and 2) a long-term analysis to support the general physiological studies, including
circadian rhythm studies. Down-linked data for short-term analysis were available
from telemetry captures at prime receiving stations in Quito, Ecuador; Lima,
Peru; Santiago, Chile; and Fort Myers, Florida. Data for long-term analysis
were available from the prime stations and many others following flight.
Spectra and coherences were presented principally in the form of contour
maps which compress much data into brief compass. Transient changes in the animal's
responsive states, circadian rhythms in neuro-electric parameters, and the general
course of EEG are represented in one, highly compressed set of maps. Short term
analysis and transmission of output graphs to Mission Control was initiated
within seven hours of the data's generation in space. A composite map of EEG
spectral intensity contours from insertion of the animal into the capsule to
de-orbit was obtained by plotting contours across 180 data-capture epochs occurring
at irregular intervals approximately 1.5 hours apart. In this mapping, the left
parietal cortex was representative of the four cortical channels, and the left
amygdala was representative of the six deep bipolar leads. A total of 46,270
seconds of "long- term" data was processed in ten-second epochs, for these and
other maps.
Launch was a mildly traumatic event for the animal, intensity contours show
alterations during the two hours immediately following launch, then return to
stable, prelaunch levels. Visible spectral peaks on the left parietal channel
on days two, three, four, and five suggest that the animal was aroused during
per- formance tasks, although the actual performance was quite low. The animal
appears to have had a functionally intact cortex until flight day six, and to
have had a functional cortical impairment on flight days seven and eight. This
was compatible with a minimal response to alterations of light versus dark and
with maintenance of normal subcortical electrical activity. The animal became
grossly pathological and unresponsive on flight day nine, when the mission was
terminated. Considerable fluctuations in spectral intensity persisted within
certain frequency bands. This pathological state resembled, but was not identical
with, a state of acute hypothermia under anesthesia. Death occurred eight hours
after recovery, the acute cause being ventricular fibrillation.
Adey, W.R. and P.M. Hahn: Introduction: Biosatellite III Results. Aerospace
Medicine, vol. 42, 1971, pp. 273-280.
Adey, W.R. et al.: Biosatellite III: Preliminary Findings. Science, vol. 166,
1969, pp. 492-493.
Adey, W.R. et al.: Central Nervous, Cardiovascular, and Metabolic Data of a
Macaca nemestrina During a 30-Day Experiment. Circadian Rhythms in Non-Human
Primates, 2nd Symposium International Congress of Primatology, Atlanta, Ga.,
July 2, 1968, Emory University, 1969, pp. 8-38.
Adey, W.R. et al: Digital Computer Analysis of Neurophysiological Data from
Biosatellite III. Aerospace Medicine, vol. 42, 1971, pp. 314-321.
Adey, W.R.: Studies on Weightlessness in a Primate in the Biosatellite III
Experiment. Life Sciences and Space Research: Proceedings of the 14th Plenary
Meeting of COSPAR, Seattle, Wash., June 21-July 2, 1971, Akademie-Verlag, 1972,
pp. 67-85
Walter, D.O.: Digital Computer Analysis of Neurophysiological Data from Biosatellite
III. Aerospace Medicine, vol. 42, 1971, pp. 314-321.
Walter, D.O. et al.: Digital Computer Analysis of Neurophysiological Data from
Biosatellite III. BIOSPEX: Biological Space Experiments, NASA TM-58217, 1979,
p. 136.
¥ = publication of related ground-based study