ABSTRACT
The paper presents body mass and leg volume measurements of 21 prime crewmembers of Salyut-6 and Salyut-7 flights. It was found that body mass variations were different in sign. In most crewmembers body mass decreased by 1.2-2.0 to 6.0 kg. In some crewmembers this parameter increased by 1.0 to 4.5 kg during the entire flight or at certain flight stages. This observation confirms the concept that metabolism produces an important effect on body mass variations. It also points out that the space diets used are adequate to metabolic requirements. Leg volume of all cosmonauts decreased in the following manner: the decrease was the greatest during the first flight day, slightly less during the first flight month and still less during the subsequent 2 or 3 months of flight. Exercises that were performed at a larger workload, especially during the second half of flight, seemed to help stabilize or occasionally increase leg volume.
