Orbiting Frog Otolith

1 OFO ( Orbiting Frog Otolith ) was a satellite of the U.S. space agency NASA.

Construction

The satellite has a length of 1,68 m and a diameter of 76 cm. Two bullfrogs were on board within a bio- medical experiment to investigate the otoliths in the satellite, as the otoliths bullfrogs are very similar to humans. The frogs had been implanted in the vestibular nerve electrodes. They were housed in a small centrifuge to simulate different gravity conditions. The centrifuge was set by radio command from Earth in motion.

Mission

After the successful launch of the biometric data of the frogs with a comparison group on earth were compared. Three days after reaching orbit, the reactions of the animals had adjusted to different gravity conditions. After six days, the animals died unexpectedly. After 181 days OFO 1 burned up in the atmosphere.

In addition, on board the rocket was located the payload RM-1, which consisted of measuring instruments for determining the density and energy of micrometeorites and was integrated with the fourth stage of the Scout rocket.

External links and sources

• Herbert priest, Peter Stache: spacecraft. One type Book, 1972