APOLLO-SOYUZ EXPERIMENTS SUMMARY

Abstract

The ASTP science and technology program conducted by the Apollo crew consisted of 28 separate experiments, including five conducted jointly with the Soyuz crew. Cosmic sources of extreme-ultraviolet and x-ray radiation were discovered. The interstellar medium in the vicinity of the solar system was investigated. The solar corona was photographed using spacecraft occultation of the solar disk. The radioactivation of potentially useful gamma-ray detectors by cosmic particle bombardment was measured, and the effects of cosmic particle impact upon living cells was investigated with three different techniques by three separate experiments. The concentrations of two atomic species and the aerosol component of the upper atmosphere were measured, respectively, by resonance absorption spectroscopy and solar extinction photometry. The Earth surface structure was investigated by photographic and visual observations, and the sub-surface structure was investigated by gravity-field measurements, employing highly precise spacecraft-to-spacecraft tracking techniques. Zero-gravity effects upon the embryogenesis of fish vestibular systems and upon the rhythmicity of fungal growth patterns were investigated. Microbial growth and microbial transfer among crewmembers were measured. Mixtures of biological cells were separated into pure samples by two different electrophoresis techniques. Seven sets of solid materials were processed by high-temperature melting, and one set was processed by ambient-temperature diffusion.