[Main results of the medical research in the Saliut 6-Soiuz program]. / Osnovnye itogi meditsinskikh issledovanii po programme "Saliut-6"-"Soiuz".

In 1977-1981 the Soviet Union launched 18 manned space missions under the Salyut-6--Soyuz program which included five flights of prime crews for 96, 140, 175, 185, and 75 days and eleven flights of visiting crews. Altogether 30 cosmonauts, including 9 crewmembers from other than the USSR socialist countries, took part in the program. Emphasis was given to the medical investigations, since their purpose was not only to assess the health status of the crewmembers and to investigate their responses to prolonged weightlessness, but also to identify the maximum allowable flight time.

[Psychophysiological selection: status and prospects]. / Psikhofiziologicheskii otbor: sostoianie i perspektivy.

The major stages in the development of psychophysiological selection of cosmonauts in the USSR are discussed. The psychophysiological selection was originally based on the data of psychoneurological expertise of the flight personnel and achievements of aviation psychology in the USSR. This was followed by the development of psychophysiological research, using instrumentation and simulation flights. Further complication of flight programs and participation of non-pilot cosmonauts (engineers, scientists) necessitated detailed study of personality properties and application of personality tests. At the present stage in the development of psychophysiological selection great importance is attached to the biorhythmological selection and methods for studying man's capabilities to control his own emotional, behavioral and autonomic reactions as well as environmental parameters. The review also discusses in detail methods of group selection and problems of rational selection of space crews.

Preliminary results of medical investigations during piloted flights in the Salyut-6 program.

The changes observed during flight on the whole corresponded with the preflight prognosis and reflected the phase nature of the processes of adaptation. They were shown by blood redistribution symptoms, fluctuations in the main indices of hemodynamics at rest not going beyond the limits of the physiological norm, an increase in the pulse-filling of the head with blood, and a decrease in that of the shank. The reaction of the blood circulation to a physical load and the application of negative pressure varied, and in a number of investigations during flight it was more pronounced than on Earth. The changes observed after the flight appeared regular for the period of readaptation of the reactions of the organism. These reactions bore a functional nature and qualitatively did not differ from reactions observed after other flights, and after the 140-day flight they were, on the whole, less pronounced than after the 96-day flight. In the postflight period to accelerate the process of adaptation a complex of restorative-healing measures was carried out, including mainly a regulation of motor activity, restorative massage of the muscles, remedial physical culture and aquatic procedures. The flight lasting 140 days revealed no contraindications to a further regular increase in the time of cosmic flights and demonstrates once again the possibility of the planned control of the state of a healthy subject in flight and the readiness of the organism for a return to the terrestrial force of gravity.

[Some problems of space medicine]. / Nekotorye problemy kosmicheskoi meditsiny

The paper discusses the problems to be resolved by space medicine and the main stages in the development of this branch of science, beginning with the vertical launches of rockets and ending with the flights of orbital stations. On the basis of ground-based simulation experiments and real space flights it presents a classification of the major symptomocomplexes that may occur inflight. The paper describes the main stages of adaptation to weightlessness and physiological changes in the weightless state. The paper also outlines further pathways in the development of space medicine.

[Preliminary results of medical research completed during the flight of the second expedition of orbital station "Salyut-4"]. / Predvaritel'nye rezul'taty meditsinskikh issledovanii, vypolnennykh vo vremia poleta vtoroi ékspeditsii orbital'noi stantsii "Saliut-4"

The 63-day flight of cosmonauts P. I. Klimuk and V. I. Sevastyanov onboard the orbital station Salyut-4 has shown that man can well adapt to weightlessness and carry out diverse and intensive activities in the weightless state. Weightlessness effects on the human body may be both direct and indirect. The direct effects include reversal of deformations and mechanical tensions in tissue structures, change in the afferent impulsation from receptor zones reacting to the gravity effect, blood redistribution, disturbance in the function of sensory system. The indirect effects of weightlessness are associated with an unusual environment and unusual conditions of work rest, food and water consumption, etc. In the course of flight the human body adapts itself to the new environment; this is assured by self-regulation of physiological functions aimed at the maintenance of a constant level of vitally important parameters. Human adaptation to the weightless state can be subdivided into two periods: 1) period of adaptive rearrangement and 2) period of relative stabilization. The first period includes a rearrangement of functions and regulatory systems of the body. The second period can be defined as attainment of an intersystem homeostasis in the human body and a relatively stable equilibrium of the body with the environment. Incomplete adaptive reactions in shorter flights, e. g. during the first expedition of the orbital station Salyut-4 (G. M. Grechko, A. A. Gubarev), may be one of the factors responsible for a less favourable development of postflight readaptation. Thus, the most important purpose of the medical monitoring and prediction in prolonged space missions is to determine how complete or incomplete these adaptive reactions are. Relative stabilization can be reached, as a rule, after a 1.5 month exposure to weightlessness. However, this time period is rather relative since it depends on the characteristic features of the human body. The results of medical investigations carried out during and after the 63-day flight demonstrated no changes that could prevent from a further increase in the duration of future space missions.

["Soiuz-Apollo" experimental flight. Preliminary results of medicobiological studies, carried out during the flight of "Soiuz-19" spaceship]. / Eksperimental'nyi polet "Soiuz-Apollon". Predvaritel'nye rezultaty mediko-biologicheskikh issledovanii vypolnennykh vo vremia poleta korabliia "Soiuz-19"

The paper presents brief information on the Apollo-Soyuz test mission, its program biomedical investigations to be carried out in flight and specific medical aspects. It discusses the main tasks of the joint US-USSR experiments and Soviet experiments. It gives and analyzes preliminary results of medical monitoring and postflight examinations of the crew members.

[Theoretical aspects of developing a system of medical control in space flights]. / Nekotorye teoreticheskie aspekty postroeniia sistemy meditsinskogo kontrolia v kosmicheskikh poletakh

The paper presents theortical approaches to the medical control system in prolonged space flights. It classifies the most probable states in long-term weightlessness. The main symptoms of these states are described. On the basis of this classification methods and parameters to be used in diagnosis of symptoms that may occur in space flights are discussed.

[Medical studies during flights of "Soiuz-12", "Soiuz-13", "Soiuz-14" space ships and "Saliut-3" orbital station]. / Meditsinskie issledovaniia vo vremia poletov kosmicheskikh korablei "Soiuz-12", "Soiuz-13", "Soiuz-14" i orbital'noi stantsii "Saliut-3"

Medical results obtained during missions of the Soyuz-12, Soyuz-13, Soyuz-14 spacecraft and the Salyut-3 orbital station are presented. The subjective feelings of the crewmembers (blood rush to the head, chest congestion, vegetative disturbances, etc), data of the inflight medical control and medical experiments as well as countermeasures used are described in detail. Results of postflight medical examinations at rest and using functional tests are also summarized. It is concluded that no abnormalities in the vital physiological functions of the crews developed inflight. The symptoms typical of the acute period of adaptation to weightlessness disappeared completely after the first flight days.