Study of cosmic ray effects on Artemia salina eggs during the Apollo 16 and 17 flights

We have used Artemia salina eggs, embedded in polyvinyl alcohol, to study the biological effects of heavy ions of cosmic rays. Each biological layer was sandwiched between track detectors. Hit eggs by heavy ions show a great inhibition of their developmental ability. A lower inhibition is observed for eggs that were flown but not hit. Simulation experiments are in progress to determine the factors responsible for inhibition of eggs that were not hit and to improve our knowledge of cellular damage induced by heavy ions.