This portion of the primate experiment was to study the possible effects of
the space environment on the sleep/wake cycle of a pig-tailed monkey. This study
was to analyze time-lapse photographic records of the animal taken by the on-
board camera inside the Biosatellite III capsule. Camera records were taken
in conjunction with other physiological measurements on the animal just before
and during the flight.
The 16 mm cameras in the flight and simulated spacecraft were mounted above
the left shoulder of the animal. A 24-hour clock and date indicator was placed
in the photographic field by an auxiliary lens. Time-lapse pictures were taken
at the rate of on frame every twenty minutes at zero, twenty and forty minutes
after the hour. Data was obtained by analyzing each frame with an optical data
analyzer, in which each frame was taken to represent the animal's state for
a given twenty- minute period. Sleep/wake states were defined by the status
of the eyes: open, closed, not discernible. Other activities, such as food and
water consumption and telemetry data, supplemented the time-lapse data to indicate
and verify the animal's sleep or awake state. In addition to the four controls,
baseline data from five other monkeys subjected to simulated space flight up
to thirty days were also analyzed.
The animal appeared to have began to adapt to space environment within thirty
seconds after reaching orbit, when a rapid disappearance of anxiety and struggling
could be observed. Lack of sleep in the preceding eighteen hours resulted in
immediate sleep. Periods when the subject awoke briefly and drank water were
noted, although absent from the time-lapse photographic record. The subject
was generally awake during the light cycle, and with the exception of the last
two days, the subject tended to remain on a consistent schedule regarding onset
of "night" sleep. The sleep/wake cycle was generally 24-hour but a phase angle
difference of two hours from the imposed day/night modes and rapid shifts in
sleep/ wake states occurred. The subject remained asleep for longer periods
of time as the flight progressed. Comparison with other circadian findings indicate
that an internal desynchronosis occurred.
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.: 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.
Hanley, J. and W.R. Adey: Sleep and Wake States in the Biosatellite III Monkey:
Visual and Computer Analysis of Telemetered Electroencephalographic Data from
Earth Orbital Flight. Aerospace Medicine, vol. 42, 1971, pp. 304-313.
Hoshizaki, T.: Biorhythms of a Nonhuman Primate in Space. Chronobiology, Igaku
Shoin (Tokyo), 1974, pp. 424-428.
Hoshizaki, T. et al.: Circadian Rhythms and Sleep/Wake Activity in the Biosatellite
Monkey. Physiologist, vol. 16, 1973, pp. 202-208.
Hoshizaki, T. et al.: Sleep/Wake Activity Patterns of a Macaca nemestrina Monkey
During Nine Days of Weightlessness. BIOSPEX: Biological Space Experiments, NASA
TM-58217, 1979, p. 120.
Hoshizaki, T. et al.: Sleep/Wake Activity Patterns of a Macaca nemestrina Monkey
During Nine Days of Weightlessness. Aerospace Medicine, vol. 42, 1971, pp. 288-295.
¥ = publication of related ground-based study