A rodent-based spaceflight study is conducted to investigate physiological changes in rats vs humans and the effects of changes in the design of the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) and the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM). Rats were housed in the AEM and the RAHF, and controls were kept in identical flight hardware on earth subjected to the same flight-environmental profile. Biosamples and organ weights are taken to compare the rats before and after flight, and food/water intake are also compared. Weight gain, body weight, and food consumptions in the flight rats are significantly lower than corresponding values for the control subjects. Flight rats tend to have smaller postexperiment spleens and hearts, and flight rats consumed more water in the AEM than in the RAHF. The rodents' behavior is analogous to humans with respect to physiological and reconditioning effects, showing that the rat is a good model for basic research into the effects of spaceflight on humans.
Rodent growth, behavior, and physiology resulting from flight on the Space Life Sciences-1 mission
1992-08-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Effects of Space Flight on Rodent Tissues
NTRS | 1997
|Cardiovascular physiology in space flight
NTRS | 1991
|Uses of manned space flight - Life sciences area
NTRS | 1969
|Life-sciences research opportunities in commercial suborbital space flight
Online Contents | 2014
|