Series 3 - Microgravity, Sleep and Immune Functions in Humans (SWIF)

1.52 m; textual, graphic and artifacts
58 CDs
19 3.5 inch floppy disks

This series documents Dr. Moldofsky’s research activities, in particular, his two major research projects on Microgravity, Sleep and Immune Functions in Humans (SWIF) with the Canadian Space Agency and NASA, funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The first project (1995-1999) studied the influence of gravity change on sleep and the immune system in astronauts. The aim of this research was to further advance the studies of disordered sleep and altered immune functions observed in distressing circumstances, and in patients with psychiatric (major depression) and medical conditions (i.e. fibromyalgia, post febrile chronic fatigue syndrome). This experiment was conducted during the Mir 23/NASA 4 and Mir 24 missions in 1997-1998.

The second project of the same title (2000-2003) involved experiments carried out in space but then subsequently lost during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. This second phase aimed to understand bone loss in astronauts in space as well as osteoporosis on Earth, believing that chemical changes in the human immune system – possibly triggered by sleep deprivation – could instead be a major cause of bone loss in space and on the ground (as opposed to just microgravity).

Included in this series: grant applications; correspondence; files related to visits to the Russian Space Agency in Star City and the Johnson Space Center in Houston (including photographs); baseline data collection (BDC) data sets; and final reports. Also included are EEG electrode caps used by American and Russian astronauts aboard the MIR space station.

Files arranged by subject

Open

• Dataset files of the project on 3.5 inch floppy disks and CDs are unprocessed and not available for researcher use at this time.

Consult appendix in finding aid for file listing