The Effects of Coriolis Acceleration during Zero-gravity Parabolic Flight.

Twenty-one normal and four labyrinthine defective (L-D) subjects were exposed to repetitive, twenty-second intervals of (1) zero gravity or (2) zero gravity plus Coriolis acceleration in parabolic flight. The normal subjeets showed significant hematological and biochemieaI evidence of stress in the form of leukoeytic changes and alteration in excretion rates of eorticosteroids, while the L-D group were virtually free of such changes. Catecholamine exeretions were not significantly altered in either group under each of the test conditions. The zero gravity flight of this experiment did not produce significant change in the muscle metabolism parameters laetic and pyruvic acids and lactic dehydrogenase. A L T H O U G H B I O C H E M I C A L and hematological changes during sustained zero gravity ballistic From the U. S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine, Pensacola, Florida. Opinions or conclusions contained in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the Navy Department. This research was carried out under the sponsorship of the Office of Life Science Programs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Order No. R-93. Presented at the 35th Annual Scientific Meeting, Aerospace Medical Association, Miami Beach, Florida, May 11, 1964. flight have been well documented, 17, 18 little information is available on the response of labyrinthine-defective ( L D ) subjects compared to normals when subjected to repeated, short-cycle, zero-G parabolic flight with and without the added stimulation of Coriolis acceleration. While the latter is not easily tolerated by normal individuals s and may be an incidental problem for the occupants of the space platform, s animals with bilateral labyrinthectomy have been asymptomatie under s u c h bizarre accelerative conditions, is Normal and L-D subjects have been shown to have different excretory patterns for epinephrine, norepinephrine, and 17-hydroxyeorticosteroids when subjected to the unusual G forces of acrobatic flight, ~ presumably f rom the stimulation of the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Furthermore, it has not been determined whether a series of parabolic flight maneuvers, with the accompanying load changes imposed on the supportive and functional muscle tissue of the body, would have measurable effects on the glycolytic mechanism parameters such as lactic and pyruvic acids and lactic dehydrogenase. I t was the purpose of this experiment to measure the above values in addition to the leukocytic formed elements of the blood in the described zero-G state with and without the added stress of Coriolis acceleration. 844 Aerospace Medicine 9 September 1964 THE EFFECTS OF CORIOLIS ACCELERATION DURING ZERO-GRAVITY PARABOLIC FLIGHT--COLEHOUR