Appendix III: Flight Hardware

Note: This introduction comes from the printed version of Life into Space. On this web site, links to hardware descriptions are found within the appropriate mission descriptions; no separate hardware appendix exists. The following text is included to explain the structure and content of the hardware descriptions. To find a specific piece of hardware by name, use the site search engine.

This appendix profiles flight hardware used in life science experiments flown by NASA ARC between 1965 and 1990.

Hardware items are listed alphabetically. The mission on which the hardware was flown is indicated for each item.

A listing of Soviet-built hardware used in the Cosmos missions and references from Russian reports/journals is provided. This hardware is not individually described in this appendix. A brief description of each item can be found in relevant text of Section 4.24, The Cosmos Biosatellite Program.

The appendix includes:
  • Key U.S-built flight hardware items
   - major subsystems for each hardware item are listed in italics and indicated by an asterisk (*), and are described in more detail in separate entries
   - minor subsystems are listed in bold and briefly described for each hardware item, but do not appear as separate entries
  • Related ground-based hardware (items necessary for flight hardware operation)
  • Modified flight hardware
   - hardware items modified and reused on subsequent missions are designated Modification 1, etc. and described in separate entries

Flight hardware information was obtained from the open literature, NASA internal reports, and NASA hardware design reviews.

Each U.S. flight hardware entry contains: a description of the flight hardware item and appropriate subsystems; references of documents and publications from which the information was derived; a listing of individual specifications (when available); a brief description of any related ground based hardware; types of data acquisition (if applicable); and a full-page illustration, varying in quality.

For further information regarding recent flight hardware, please contact James Connolly, at the Flight Equipment Engineering Branch of the Space Life Sciences Payloads Office, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035-1000, phone (415) 604-6483.

Cosmos 782/936 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

   • Rodent Cages (individual housing) -feeding/watering -lighting -waste management
   • Fish Embryo Case (Fundulus chambers)
   • Fruit Fly Containers (Drosophila chambers)
   • Biotelemetry System
   - rodent physiological sensors
   - transmitter
   • Flight Centrifuges

Biologicheskiye Issledovaniya na Biosputnikakh 'Kosmos' (Biological Studies on the Kosmos Biosatellites). E.A. Ilyin and G.P. Parfenov, eds. Moscow: Nauka, 1979. NASA TM-75769 [Hardware and selected results from Cosmos 605, 690 782, 936]

Vliyaniye Dinamicheskikh Factorov Kosmicheskigo Poleta na Organism Nhivotnykh (The Effect of Dynamic Factors of Spaceflight on Animal Organisms). A.M. Genin, ed. Moscow: Nauka, 1979. NASA TM-75692 [Hardware and selected results from Cosmos 605, 690 , 782, 936]

Gazenko, O.G. et al: Principal Results with Mammals Onboard the Kosmos-782 Biosatellite. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 12 (No. 6): 43-49, 1978.

Kotovskaya, A.R. et al.: Soviet Investigations of Artificial Gravity. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 15 (No. 2): 72-79, 1981.

Cosmos 1129 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

  • Rodent Cages (individual housing, same as Cosmos 782/936 Rodent Cages)
  • Rodent Mating Chamber (group housing)
   - feeding/watering
   - lighting
   - waste management
   - moveable partition
  • Quail Egg Incubator

Ilyin, E.A.: Investigations on Cosmos Biosatellites. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 18 (No. 1): 57-66, 1984. [General information concerning Cosmos 605 through 1129]

Cosmos 1514 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

  • Primate BIOS Capsules
   - restraint couches
   - feeding (paste)/drinking (juice) systems
   - waste management
   - monitoring camera
   - primate physiological sensors
   - biotelemetry system
  • Psychomotor Test System
   - light signal stimuli
   - foot lever (with EMG monitoring)
   - eye-tracking device
  • Rodent Cages (individual housing, same as Cosmos 1129 Rodent Cages)
  • Rodent BIOS Chamber (group housing, modification of Rodent Mating Chamber by removal of partition)

Melnichenko, V.P. et al.: Electrocardiography in the Neb-Type Leads in Macaca mulatta. Kosimcheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 19 (No. 6): 87-90, 1985.

Serova, L.V. et al.: Experimental Conditions on the Kosmos-1514 Biosatellite. Ontogenez Mlekopitayuschikh v Nevesomosti (Ontogenies of Mammals in Microgravity), Moscow: Nauka Press: 37-38, 1988. also a NASA TM, in press.

Cosmos 1667 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

  • Primate BIOS Capsules (same as Cosmos 1514 Primate BIOS Capsules)
  • Psychomotor Test System

Magedov, V.S. and Yu.S. Koryakov: Special Equipment of Magnetic Recording of Physiological Information Obtained in Biosatellite Studies. Kosimicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 20 (No. 4): 79-81, 1986.

Gazenko, O.G. et al.: Rat Experiments on the Biosatellite Cosmos 1667: Goals, Protocols, Results. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 21 (No. 4): 9-16, 1987. [U.S. did not participate in rodent experiments on Cosmos 1667]

Cosmos 1887 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

  • Primate BIOS Capsules (same as Cosmos 1514 Primate BIOS Capsules)
  • Rodent BIOS Chamber (group housing, same as Cosmos 1514 Rodent BIOS Chambers)

Kovalev, E.E. et al.: Space Flight Radiation Safety in the InterCosmos Program. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 22 (No. 6): 36-41, 1988 [Radiation studies throughout Cosmos program, including U.S. investigations]

Ilyin, E.A.: Cosmos Biosatellites: Results and Perspectives of Investigations. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditisina. Vol. 22 (No. 6): 41-51, 1988 [Focuses on Cosmos hardware up through Cosmos 1667]

Cosmos 2044 Russian Hardware Suite (hardware used by U.S. experiments)

  • Rodent BIOS Chamber (group housing, same as Cosmos 1887 Rodent BIOS Chambers)
  • Primate BIOS Capsule (same as Cosmos 1887 Primate BIOS with modified food nozzle)
  • Gaze Fixation Equipment (modification of Cosmos 1514/1667 Psychomotor Test System)
   - ocular electrodes (for recording horizontal oculogram)
   - vestibular nuclei activity recording device
   - head movement sensor
   - light signal stimuli

Gazenko, O.G. et al.: Habitability and Biological Life Support Systems. Kosmicheskaya Biologiya i Aviakosmicheskaya Meditsina. Vol. 24 (No. 3): 12-17, 1990.

Golov, V.K. et al. Hardware Support of Experiments. Joint U.S./U.S.S.R. Working Group on Space Biology and Medicine: Major Results of Research on Biosatellite Cosmos 2044. (draft translated by L.R. Stone) E.A. Ilyin and V.I. Korolkov, eds. 1990. also to appear in Cosmos 2044 Biosatellite Description and U.S. Final Reports of Monkey and Rat Experiments. J.P. Connolly, R.E. Grindeland and R.W. Ballard, eds. NASA TM in press.