[Main results of the medical research in the Saliut 6-Soiuz program].

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].

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.

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.