Evening star., 1960-10-13

by a balloon-like device that
popped out of the cone and in
fiated. The delicate job Of
hoisting the cone aboard was
completed at 9:08 am. The
cone was reported in good con-
dition.
Gone Test Stressed
The Air Force emphasized
the main purposes of the flight
were to test the new cone and
general performance of the
Convair-made missile. The
mice and other experiments
were placed aboard because
there was extra room in the
area of the cone which in war
time would be occupied by a
nuclear warhead.
This was the third test for
the cone, designated RVX-2A.
The previous two sank after
successful Atlas flights because
of failure of recovery gear.
All three mice are IL weeks
old. AS the names indicate,
two are female, one male. They
rode in separate compartments
in a 16-inch-long, 6-inch-diam-
eter cylinder which was air.
tight to give the tiny passengers
a self-contained, sealed en-
vironment.
Their initials-S AM-stand
for. the School of Aviation
Medicine at Brooks Air Force
Base, Tex. The school, which
is conducting extensive re-
search in biomedical problems
of space flight, also provided
monkeys Sam and Miss Sam
for rocket flights several
months ago.
DR.. H. c. Clamman, the
schools director of space medi-
cine, described the mouse
carrying cylinder as "a small
forerunner of a model of a
man-in-Space capsule" 1t was
half filled with oxygen con-
tainers and electronic devices
to simulate an earth-like en-
vironment which may be ne
cessary for manned space
travel.
This experiment." DR.. Clam
man said. "is a step toward
finding how to send human
beings into space. It will help
establish guidelines for the type
Of chamber we need to safely
carry man into space.
I'VE think this fight will
provide valuable information on
several aspects of space travel.
We want to learn how the mice
are affected by confinement in
a small area, weightlesSness,
high gravity forces at accelera-
tion and re-entry, noise and
radiation"
Amy Carries Pack
Strapped to Amy like a sad
die was an instrument package
weighing one-fourth of an
ounce. This was to radio in
formation on heart beat, res
piration and other reactions
throughout most of the flight
during 10 minutes of which
the mice were to be in a
weightless state. 1t may take
several days to analyze this
data.
Sally and Moe were not in
strumented.
The Atlas was to penetrate
about 400 miles into the lower
region of the Van Allen radia.
ton belt, which starts about 800
miles above the earth and ex.
tends out several thousanc
miles. This potentially deadly
belt is considered a dangerous
barrier to manned space flight
The mice will be examined
for effects of radiation. Thi
! will be determined by the gray.
ing of the hair, indicating rad.
iation has penetrated the hail
glands and affected pigmenta'
toin.
The mice also will be mated
among themselves and will
. other mice, to study genetic eff
fects.
A ur-to- -five-day supply o
food and oxygen was in tn
} mouse chamber. The food is
! mixture of oatmeal, crushe,
peanuts, gelatine and water
/ Being a sticky, custard-lik
j. substance, it was less likely t
be tossed around during tn
0 weightless period.
Other Experiments Set
C Six other experiments wer
e tucked in the nose cone, five G
= them to take radiation meas
S urements as the Atlas raced a
$4,000 miles an hour. The sixt
e was described only as a fue
S celia device to help develo
Y a method of support power
t future space craft.