US monkey and rat experiments flown on the Soviet Satellite Cosmos 1514

Abstract

On December 14, 1983, the U.S.S.R. launched Cosmos 1514, an unmanned spacecraft carrying biological and radiation physics experiments from nine countries, including five from the United States. This was the fourth flight with U.S. experiments aboard one of the Soviet unmanned spacecraft. The Cosmos 1514 flight was limited to five days duration because it was the first nonhuman primate flight. Cosmos 1514 marked a significant departure from earlier flights both in terms of Soviet goals and the degree of cooperation between the U.S.S.R. and the United States. This flight included more than 60 experiments on fish, crawfish eggs, plants and seeds, 10 Wistar pregnant rats, and 2 young adult rhesus monkeys as human surrogates. United States specialist participated in postflight data transfer and specimen transfer, and conducted rat neonatal behavioral studies. An overview of the mission is presented focusing on preflight, on-orbit, and postflight activites pertinent to the five U.S. experiments aboard Cosmos