A number of experiments, designed by participating specialists from several countries, are described. The experiments included studies in biorhythm, stress, body parts, behavior, ontogenesis, and gravitational preference. The biological subjects of the experiments were retrieved immediately after the landing of the satellite and examined in a field laboratory

Nikitin, S. A.

English

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oNASA TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM NASA TM-76344
THE KOSMOS-1129 BIOSATELLITE
S. A. Nikitin
(NASA-TM-76344) THE KOSMOS-1129
BIOSATELLITE (National Aeronautics and Space
Administration) 4 p HC A02/MF A01 . CSCL 22A
N81-15011
Onelas
G5/12 13015
Translation of "Biosputnik 'Kosmos-11291," Priroda, No. 2, Feb. 1980,
p. 103.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 205^6 AUGUST 1980 -\
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19810006496 2020-03-21T14:36:03+00:00Z
STANDARD TITLE PACE
1. Report No.
NASA TM-763^4
2. Government Accet tion No.
4. Till* ond Subtitle
THE KOSMOS-1129 BIOSATELLITE '
7. Author(<)
S. A. Nikitin
Moscow
9. Performing Orgonitotion Name end
• 'Leo Kanner Associate
Redwood City, Calif c
Addreti
3S
>rnia 9^063 • '
12. Sponlorina Agency Norn* end Addreit
National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration, Washington, B.C. 205^6
% Recipient'* Cetelog No.
5. Report Dote
August 1980
6. Performing Orgeni lotion Code
8. Performing Orgonizotion Report No.
10. Work Unit No.
11. Controct or Cront No.
NASW - 3199
13. Type of Report end Period Coveferl
Translation
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
IS. Supplementary Note*
Translation of "Biosputnik.'Kosmos-11291," Priroda, No.'2,-
Feb. 1980. pi.103.
16. Abstroct • . • .
A number of experiments were designed by participating
specialists from a.number of countries and placed aboard the
"Kosmos-1129" biosatellite, launched from the Soviet Union
in September,. 1979; 'The-.experiments included those, entitled
"Biorhythm", "Stres-s", "Body Parts", "Behavior", "Ontogenesis"
and "Gravitational. Preference", which are--briefly described
in the-, article. Th6 biological subjects of the experiments
conducted aboard "Kosmos-1129" were, retrieved immediately
after the landing of the satellite and examined in a field,
laboratory, whence-they ,were sent to laboratories in the
countries participating in the de-signing^ of the-experiments.
17. Key Word. (Selected by Author(t)) 18. OUttlbution Stotement
This copyrighted Soviet work is repro-
duced and sold by NTIS under license
from VAAP, the Soviet copyright agency,
No further copying is.permitted withoul
permission from VAAP. '
19. Security Cloitif. (of thi* report)
Unclassified
20. Security Clooif. (of thi* page)
•
Unclassified
21. No. of Page* 22.
THE KOSMOS-1129 BIOSATELLITE
S. A. Nikitin
Moscow
The "Kosmos-1129" biosatellite, earmarked for the continuation of
research on the effects of space flight factors on living organisms,
was successfully launched from the Soviet Union on 25 September 1979.
Aboard the satellite were experimental systems and their biological
subjects (mammals, insects, plants, and cell cultures) as well as
scientific apparati developed in the USSR, Czechoslovakia, the USA,
and France. Specialists from Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, and
Romania participated in the preparation of biological material for the
experiments.
*
Some of the more than a dozen experiments conducted on "Kosmos-1129"
were further developments of previous ones, while others were new.
38 white rats bred under "unusually pure" conditions by specialists at
the Slovakian Academy of Sciences Institute of Endocrinology served..as
the mammalian .subjects of: the "Stress", "Biorhythm", "Body Parts", and
"Behavior" experiments.
The "Ontogenesis" experiment, during which attempts were made for
the first time to determine the possibility of fertilization and fetal
development in mammals under weightless conditions, was set up to use ./
seven rats (five females and two males). The experiment begins with
the encounter of the rats which had been placed in a special cage. It
was the "Ontogenesis" experiment that basically determined the duration
of the "Kosmos-1129" flight: the satellite should land 2 to 3 days before
the intended births. In the opinion of specialists, the pregnant rats
and the developing fetuses should be more sensitive to the effects of
space flight factors, particularly weightlessness.
Research on 60 Japanese quail eggs, conducted by specialists from
the USSR and Czechoslovakia, with the participation of US specialists,
was also devoted to the study of the course of embryonal development
in weightlessness. The necessary conditions are automatically provided
within the on-board incubator, which was built in Czechoslovakia.--:
A study of heat-exchange processes in weightlessness was performed
using a device designed in Czechoslovakia.
The goal of the "Gravitational Preference" experiment is to ascer-
tain the gravitational force preferred by animals for the life and
development of their offspring. Varying gravitational forces are
created in a small centrifuge with four tunnels made of a transparent
material. Fruit flies (drosophilae) are placed at the center of the
device, where during rotation acceleration remains zero. Newly-emerged
drosophilae, flying along the tunnels, use their own preference to
choose any of- three feeding areas and places for egg-laying where the
gravitational forces correspond to)0.2, 0.6, >and 1.0 of the terrestrial,
The experiment makes it possible not only to evaluate the effects of
gravitation on living organisms, but also to determine its evolutionary
importance.
Specialists from the USSR and the USA did experiments on plant
cell cultures in order to confirm data from previous space flights
regarding the capability of isolated somatic plant cells to develop
normally from embryon to adult organism during weightlessness, as well
as to study the intensity of metabolism in plant tumor cells.
The Soviet-French radiobiological experiment "Bioblock" continued
research begun on previous biosatellite flights involving the dangers
of -cosmic ray heavy nuclei for organisms. Study of electrostatic
shielding against charged particles of cosmic origin was continued in
radiation-physics experiments.
"Kosmos-1129" returned to Earth on 14 October 1979, after a
19-day flight. The first studies on the biological subjects which had
been on board were performed at the landing site in an operationally
developed field laboratory. Following preliminary evaluation of the
obtained results, portions of the material were sent to scientific
laboratories in the nations participating in the experiments.
REFERENCES
1. Akoyev, I. G., "Problems of Space Biophysics," Priroda, 12 (1977)
" * V*"1***'


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