The effects of cosmic particle radiation on pocket mice aboard Apollo XVII: XI. Results of eye examination.
Five pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) were flown on Apollo XVII, and four survived. All the eyes, except one eye from the dead flight mouse, were examined histologically. In the four surviving mice, a total of five cosmic ray particles which had registered in the subscalp particle detectors had trajectories that intersected the eyes. Four of them (Z equal to 6-9 for three of the particles and Z larger than or equal to 10 for the fourth) most likely went through the head before reaching the particle detector, while the thindown direction of the fifth (Z larger than or equal to 10) was not determinable. The retinas of the flight animals were found free from histological alterations such as might have been expected from encounters with cosmic ray particles.
D000818:Animals; D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D051379:Mice; D011830:Radiation Effects; D012160:Retina / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013026:Space Flight; D014481:United States