From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: Spacelab studies feature frog eggs and space motion sickness [Release 92-130, Undamaged version] (Forwarded)
Date: 14 Aug 92 22:00:35 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.          August 13, 1992
(Phone:  202/358-0883)                   2:00 p.m. EDT

Jane Hutchison
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.
(Phone:  415/604-9000)


RELEASE:  92-130

SPACELAB STUDIES FEATURE FROG EGGS AND SPACE MOTION SICKNESS


     How will frog eggs develop in the weightlessness of space 
flight?  Can astronauts learn to control the symptoms of space 
motion sickness?

     Scientists from NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, 
Calif., will seek answers to these and other questions during 
the next Space Shuttle flight in early September.  Their 
experiments are part of the Spacelab-J mission, a 7-day joint 
space venture of the United States and Japan.

Tadpole Development in Space

     Kenneth A. Souza, Principal Investigator for the frog 
embryology experiment, said fertilized amphibian eggs -- unlike 
those of most organisms -- show an obvious response to gravity.  
His experiment should answer a basic biological question:  
whether gravity is essential for the normal fertilization of 
frog eggs and the early development of frogs.

     The frog egg is a small, 1-2 millimeter (.04 to .08 inch) 
spherical cell, clearly divided into a darkly pigmented 
hemisphere and a lightly colored hemisphere rich in yolk.  On 
Earth, fertilized frog eggs always orient themselves when 
fertilized so the heavy, lightly pigmented hemisphere is at the 
"bottom" of the egg, Souza said.

     Although frog eggs were studied previously in space, "This 
is the first time we can fertilize them in space and watch their 
development through hatching," Souza said.  "The stage most 
sensitive to gravity changes and the stage at which the symmetry 
-- left, right and head-tail location -- of the frog is 
established occurs shortly after fertilization.  This critical 
stage was missed by previous spaceflight studies."

     Four female South African clawed frogs will be carried into 
space in a special "frog box."  Early in the mission, a crew 
member will inject the frogs with a hormone which stimulates 
them to shed their eggs.  A sperm solution will be added later 
to fertilize the eggs.

     Some of the eggs will develop under the microgravity of 
space flight. Others will develop on an onboard centrifuge that 
creates a gravity force equal to Earth's.  A video camera in the 
Shuttle will allow Souza and his collaborators to observe the 
eggs as they develop from eggs to tadpoles.

     The scientists will study the embryos and tadpoles after 
the flight to compare them with others developed on Earth.  Dr. 
Muriel Ross, a neurobiologist at Ames, will study the 
development of balance organs in the inner ear.  Dr. Richard 
Wassersug of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, will 
observe the swimming pattern and behavior of the tadpoles.  Dr. 
Steven Black of Reed College, Portland, Ore., will compare the 
development of embryos grown under weightless conditions to 
those given simulated gravity on the on-board centrifuge.

Easing Space Motion Sickness

     Spacelab-J will offer another opportunity to look at 
alleviating the symptoms of space motion sickness.   Ames 
scientist Dr. Patricia Cowings and her colleagues will test the 
effectiveness of autogenic feedback training (AFT) in easing the 
symptons of motion sickness.  Cowings developed AFT -- a 
combination of biofeedback and autogenic therapy (a learned, 
self-regulation technique) -- at Ames.

     Cowings, who first successfully tested the technique on two 
astronauts during a Space Shuttle flight in 1985, said AFT has 
several advantages over using medication to treat motion 
sickness symptoms.

     "AFT produces relief with as little as 6 hours of training 
and it reduces the behavioral and physiological reactions to 
even the most provocative motion sickness stimuli," she said.  
"In addition, there are no side-effects such as sleepiness, 
reduced short-term memory or blurred vision, as there may be 
with drugs."  Cowings added that AFT is effective in a wide 
range of individuals and people remember the training a long 
time.

     Over the past 19 years, Cowings has trained more than 200 
individuals, including military pilots, in autogenic feedback.  
She observed significant improvement in motion tolerance in 85 
percent of them.

     During the Spacelab-J mission, two crew members will wear 
special instruments to record their physiological responses as 
they move about the Spacelab and carry out normal mission tasks.  
A portable, battery-powered monitoring system worn on the belt 
will record such physiological measurements as skin temperature, 
respiration rate and the heart's electrical currents.  One crew 
member is AFT-trained.  Another, non-AFT-trained, crew member 
serves as a control.

     "If we're to have a permanent presence in space, we must 
know how gravity affects the development of life at the cellular 
level," said Sally Schofield, Ames' payload scientist.  "We also 
must understand how people adapt to microgravity and find ways 
to ease this process.  Ames' experiments address these issues."

     Greg Schmidt, Ames' payload manager, said his team is 
anxious to get the mission under way.  "Thirty people at Ames 
have worked for over 8 years getting ready for this mission," he 
said.  "We are very excited about our role in this international 
mission.  We're ready to go."

     Souza, Chief of Ames' Space Life Sciences Payloads Office, 
said the Spacelab-J mission will be his office's third major 
life science mission in about a year. 


                          - end -



NOTE TO EDITORS:  Two videos and three still photos to accompany 
this release are available to news media representatives by 
calling the NASA Broadcast and Imaging Branch, 202/453-8373.

The videos are unnarrated, but each has a brief interview with 
the principal investigator at the end.

Videos:
     Frog Embryology Experiment (12:11 min.)
     Autogenic Feedback Training Experiment (8:15 min.)

Photos:
			          Color                B&W
Frog Embryology Experiment       92-HC-470            92-H-525
Frog Environmental Unit          92-HC-471            92-H-526
Autogenic Feedback System        92-HC-472            92-H-527