Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Newsom, B. D..
A programmatic research plan for a three year study is presented to generate knowledge on effects of the continuous wave 2.45 GHz microwave power transmission that the Solar Power Satellite might have on biological and ecological elements, within and around the rectenna receiving site.
A biological system proposed to restrain a monkey in the Spacelab was tested under operational conditions using typical metabolic and telemetered cardiovascular instrumentation. Instrumentation, interfaced with other electronics, and data gathering during a very active operational mission were analyzed for adequacy of procedure and success of data handling by the onboard computer.
Because women may be included as passengers in the proposed Space Shuttle System, experiments were conducted on 12 female subjects aged 24-35 yr to investigate the +Gz tolerance of women and the possible degradation of this tolerance after a period of weightlessness as simulated by bedrest. Over a 1-week period, each subject was exposed to +Gz levels starting at +2 Gz and increasing by 0.5 Gz increments to a gray-out point. This point was determined by peripheral vision loss with a standard lightbar and by reverse blood flow in the temporal artery. Ultimately, each woman was subjected to three runs at the +3 Gz level for about 55 min long each, separated by 5-min rest periods. Eight subjects with the best tolerance times were selected for 14 days of bedrest in a horizontal position; the other four being ambulatory controls. Tests before bedrest, immediately following, and 5 d later showed that average +Gz tolerance decreased by 67% after bedrest.
Several parameters of body composition were measured in eight men before and after 14 days of continuous recumbency, and in eight women before and after 17 days of recumbency. The parameters measured included body weight, body water, body potassium, plasma volume, and plasma protein concentrations. From these, values were derived for body fat content, lean body mass, body mass, and circulating plasma proteins. In general, the men and women responded similarly to continuous recumbency. Characteristically, there was significant reduction of plasma volume and body potassium in both groups. The women showed a significant reduction in circulating plasma protein, entirely in the albumin fraction; a similar change was observed in the men. The women, but not the men, showed a significant increase in circulating fibrinogen. Both men and women lost body cell mass, while body fat content remained the same or tended to increase slightly. It is expected that similar changes would occur in weightlessness. It is further concluded that women should tolerate the weightlessness of space flight physiologically as well as men.
After 1 week of ambulatory base-line measurement, a group of 8 men 19-26 years of age remained continuously recumbent for 14 days. Studies were continued for 1 week following the prolonged recumbency. Urine excretion rates for a number of constituents were determined 2 days before bed rest, on day 14 of bed rest, and day 6 after bed rest. Blood plasma samples were also obtained at these times, and analyzed for several enzymes. On day 14 of bed rest significant increases were observed in urine excretion of total osmotically-active substances, magnesium, calcium, phosphate, creatinine, hydroxyproline, and 17-OH corticosteroids. A decrease occurred in urinary glucose excretion. Plasma levels of alkaline phosphatase and LDH-3 were depressed, while plasma GPT was elevated. Many of these changes persisted on day 6 after bed rest, and are interpreted as concomitants of the disuse atrophy of the musculoskeletal system that characterizes prolonged bed rest and weightlessness.
Factors aiding man to adjust to the artificial gravity environment of a rotating space station in orbit are considered. From recent experiments reported by Newsom et al. (1966), it is known that, if man is taken stepwise into a rotating environment, he can adjust (without becoming ill) to spin rates above that required for maintaining an artificial gravity environment in a space station. Little or no data are available, and much work remains to be done in the area of prehabituation and the rate at which habituation is extinguished. At least three factors must be considered in the design of an artificial gravity space station, and these factors directly affect the degree of habitability of the space-station environment. The three factors are rotation rate, stability, and Coriolis force.
A static object revolving at a constant velocity is stationary with respect to that environment. When the object is rotated outside the plane of spin, a gyroscopic or cross-coupled acceleration is produced orthogonal to the two planes of rotation. In this situation, a man feels himself moving in a direction other than that which his visual or proprioceptive sensors perceive. The conflict in spatial orientation is the cross-coupled acceleration imposed on the semicircular canals. This perceptual conflict and the thresholds involved were studied by partial isolation of the physiological stimuli through sensory deprivation. Subjects weighted to neutral buoyancy were submerged in 94 F water in the dark. The subjects were then rotated while being revolved about a displaced axis. Thresholds for detection of angular acceleration were higher than those reported in the literature for detection of acceleration of a single plane. This discrepancy may be attributable to the length of time the stimuli are imposed to each of the canals and the cupular response periods.
Perturbation effects on physiologic and perceptual-motor function during rotation
Coriolis effect in rotating spacecraft simulation, discussing optokinetic reflex responses as function of head turning angle with spin axis
Centrifuge on board orbiting spacecraft as research tool for biological and physical experiments relevant to prolonged missions and spacecraft design
Rotation and sinusoidal perturbation effects on astronauts executing perceptual motor tests in rotogravity space station
Coriolis force effect on gross reach movements for instrument control consoles
Feasibility and design configuration of orbital onboard centrifuge for human physiological experiments during Apollo Applications Program
Instruments and techniques to study subject orientation and head movement of subject in rotating environment
Space research centrifuge counteracting null gravity physiological deconditioning, discussing linear and angular accelerations sensitivity and deconditioning effect on reentry task performance
Perception of oculogravic illusion in normal and labyrinthine-defective subjects related to water immersion
Coriolis force effect on gross reach movements for instrument control consoles
Explore the source record for details and available documents.