OFO experimental techniques and preliminary conclusions: is artificial gravity needed during prolonged...

The technique of single unit recording from body systems generating electrical pulses coherent with their basic function (CNS, muscles, sense organs) has been proved feasible during the OFO A orbital flight, an automatic physiological experiment. All microelectrode implants survived the lift off of a Scout vehicle. The far-reaching impact of such a technique in biological space research and in the laboratory is discussed. The results of recording 155 hours of orbital flight of pulses from the nerve fibres of four vestibular gravity sensors in two bull frogs indicate that the vestibular organ adjusts to zero g. As all the other biological changes observed during orbit are due to lack of exercise, it is concluded that artificial gravity might not be necessary during prolonged space missions or on low gravity celestial bodies.