THIRD GENERATION

22. Donald Edward STULLKEN was born on 11 Apr 1920 in Sullivan, IL. Was employed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in charge of recovery operations.
When Mary Jane (Schumacher) Lively was in eighth grade, 1959/1960 she wrote to Donald and asked about his involvement with NASA and space flight for a report she was doing for school. He sent many pictures, that had been declassified earlier, a bit about himself, the presentation that he gave to many groups about the first and second flights of the monkeys and then some funny, strange fan mail he received. I have attempted to copy and present most of these as he sent them to Jane.

VITA
Donald Edward STULLKEN

Childhood: Born April 11, 1920 Sullivan, Illinois.
Raised Oak Park, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois.

Education: Austin High School, Chicago, 1937
DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana. A.B.1941
Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. M.S. 1942
Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. Ph.D. (Physiology) 1949

Military: USNR - 1943-1946; 1950-1953
Commissioned Officer, Medical Service Crops. Attached U.S. Naval school Aviation Medicine doing research development, testing, evaluation and training in aviation physiology, personal safety equipment and survival techniques. Participated in several arctic operations (Exercise Mukluk, Exercise Barbara, etc.) Currently Commander. MSC USNR-R (inact.)

Teaching: Purdue University 1946-1950; 1953-1954 - Associate Professor.

Current: Aviation Physiologist (civilian) on staff, Chief Naval Air Training having organized all matters pertaining to training in aviation physiology, personal safety equipment, survival, and escape and evasion in the Naval Air Training Command.

In 1958, in addition to his regular duties, Dr. Stullken was assigned to the bioastronautics research project at the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine as a member of the team of scientists that developed the biocapsules in which the monkeys "Old Reliable" and "Baker" were sent into space in the nose cones of U.S. Army Jupiter rockets. He helped develop the life support system, animal restraint, and training of the monkeys. He witnessed the re-entry and recovery of the nose cone and removed the "Baker" monkey from the biocapsule after historic flight through space on 28 May 1959.


Contact Material 1959

Article by Dr. Stullken


MONKEY BUSINESS

The Story of "Miss Baker" and Bio Flights 1 & 2
by Donald E. Stullken, Ph.D.

In late August of 1958 the animal house at the Naval School of Aviation Medicine suddenly came alive with the shrill whistles and lively chatter of a colony of South American squirrel monkeys. At the same time the physiology and electronic labs began to bustle with-activity centered around peculiarly shaped containers, electronic recorders, and other paraphernalia strongly suggestive of space travel. Although no sentries were posted, guarded conversations and evasive answers indicated that something big was in the wind. As the weeks passed, the tempo of activity increased and by mid-November lights burned in the labs, night after night, until the early morning hours.

And then in early December everything suddenly became quiet again. The strange apparatus, some of the monkeys, and several staff members suddenly disappeared. About a week later, on the 13th of December, the explanation for it all appeared in the national press.

The U.S. Army had fired a Jupiter IRBM Missile with a live monkey aboard. Unfortunately, due to a malfunction of the missile nose cone, it sank in the ocean and the monkey was lost, but telemetered data received by shore and ship monitors indicated that the monkey had successfully survived the trip into space, the weightlessness, and the re-entry into the atmosphere. The design and development of the biocapsule, preparation of the monkey, and much of the fabrication of the biocapsule had been done at the Naval School of Aviation Medicine.

The experiment was repeated on May 28, 1959. Basically the same configuration of the biocapsule was used with several minor changes and improvements. In addition, this nose cone carried a second capsule containing a larger rhesus monkey. Although preliminary design of this larger biocapsule and life support system had been done at the School, the responsibility for constructing it and preparing the larger monkey was assumed by the Army. The results of this experiment were even more widely publicized, probably because the successful recovery of the two monkeys caught the public fancy.

The "monkey business" started late in the summer of 1958 when the Army Ballistic Missile Agency made space available in the AM-13 Jupiter Test Nose Cone Recovery for a biological pay load. The U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine was selected to prepare the first biocapsule and Its passenger. The space available on a non-interference basis, measured 10 inches by 13 3/4 inches and sloped from 4 3/4 inches to 7 Inches in depth. This allowed a total volume of 789 cubic inches for the animal, life support equipment, and recording devices. The flight capsule weighted 29.5 pounds.

The requirements set forth for the experiment were: (1) a self contained capsule having a 24-hour life support capability, (2) recovery of a live animal, and (3) use of an animal as high on the phylogenetic scale as possible. Young South American squirrel monkeys were selected as the animals best fitting the requirements and Limitations imposed.

For the first experiment (Bio-Flight 1, December 13, 1958) the monkey, with knees folded up over the abdomen, was placed in an open metal cylinder lined with form-molded silicon rubber. The head was supported by a chamois lined, reinforced, molded rubber helmet fastened to the cylinder to prevent movement. This cylinder was placed inside a second Cylinder with rubber insulation between the two. For Bio-Flight 2 (May 28, 1959) this support was modified by eliminating the inner cylinder and replacing the molded silicon rubber with molded polyurethane foam covered with a thin layer of rubber potting compound. The animal was oriented in a face down, prone, position during countdown and launch of the missile, and face up, or supine, on re-entry of the nose cone into the atmosphere.

Oxygen was supplied from a standard parachute bailout bottle (the only "off the shelf" item of equipment used in the biocapsule) charged to 180O pounds per square inch. It was bled into the chamber through a reduction
and bleeder valve at a rate predetermined to be the approximate consumption rate of the animal.

Carbon dioxide was removed from the atmosphere by chemical absorption, using "Baralyme" in Bio-Flight 1, and lithium hydroxide in Bio-Flight 2. Humidity was controlled with fused silica gel, and activated carbon was included to remove noxious odors. These chemicals were contained in pelon fabric containers which permitted free diffusion of gases but would limit the escape of chemical dust if vibration were encountered. Temperature was controlled by insulating the capsule with an aluminum foil covered, inch-thick blanket of glass wool and the inclusion of a thermostatically controlled 8 watt resistor.

Six channels of electronics were made available for telemetering
bio-logical information during the countdown and flight of the missile. These were used as follows:
1) Fine platinum mesh, silver-plated electrodes were imbedded under the skin of the animal to record the EKG.
2) A tiny bead thermistor sensitive to air flow was mounted over the nostril to record respiration.
3) A pressure sensitive transducer was mounted over the chest of the animal and served as a microphone to transmit heart sounds, vocalization, and other extraneous sounds in the capsule. This was eliminated in Bio-Flight 2.
4) A glass probe thermistor placed in the axilla gave a continuous reading on body temperature.
5) A second thermistor mounted in the capsule recorded environmental temperature.
6) A pressure transducer mounted in the capsule recorded environmental pressure.

The miniaturized amplifier system included in the capsule was one of the most remarkable developments of the project. On the basis of requirements set forth by the electronics laboratory at the Naval School of Aviation Medicine, this amplifier was designed and built in the electronics section at ABMA, Huntsville, Alabama. Already it has become apparent that developments such as this will find wide applicability in medical science.

The squirrel monkeys in the colony were screened several months before the projected missile flights, and a number were selected on the basis of size and temperament to be trained for space flight. This training consisted largely of accustoming them to handling and acclimatizing them to conditions of restraint and isolation in the biocapsule. The selected monkeys were subjected to restraint in a dark room for 5 to 7 hours several times week and were instrumented and restrained in the completely closed environment of the biocapsule for periods of 18 to 24 hours at least three times prior to the flight.

About a week prior to the date set for the launch of the missile, in December and again in May, the launch team proceeded to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and set up shop in a trailer housing the monkeys and all the necessary gear. On the afternoon prior to the launch two monkeys were prepared and sealed into two identical capsules. Then, approximately six hours before "T" (take-off) time, the capsule containing the monkey which showed the better responses was delivered to the Army for installation in the Jupiter nose cone. During the final six hours of countdown the reactions of the monkey were monitored from a block house until, with an earthshaking roar, the mighty Jupiter with its living passengers blasted skyward.

Fifteen minutes later the recovery team aboard a Navy ship in the range area was awed by the spectacular re-entry of the missile. There followed tense minutes that dragged into hours as the recovery task force sought the nose cone. Disappointment, tempered by the reception of excellent flight data, followed the first shot in December when the nose cone could not be found. In May, however, the second cone was recovered and two very much alive and unharmed space travelers were released from their confinement. The subsequent jubilation and world-wide acclaim is now a matter of record.

An analysis of the data and reactions of the animals to space flight will be the subject of technical papers in the near future. Suffice to say that the animals survived the ordeal of acceleration on take-off, weightlessness, and deceleration on re-entry, of their 1700 mile long, 360 mile high, 10,000 mile per hour ride without any unusual or remarkable reactions.

This narrative would be incomplete without mention of one of the most remarkable aspects of such a project which is often only indirectly appreciated. This factor was the close, friendly cooperation, the team spirit, which existed among the scientists, engineers, and their associates on an intra-service, inter-service, and extra-service basis. This project could not have been successful, particularly in the short time available, were this not true.

In addition to the members of the NAVSCOLAVMED staff and their assistants who were primarily assigned to this work, many others contributed. It would be impossible and pointless to attempt to name all the individuals and organizations. It should be pointed out, however, that it was the U.S. Army who made the space available in their Jupiter nose cone and fabricated many of the biocapsule elements. The cooperation of Army scientists and engineers was outstanding. In addition to the U.S. NAVSCOLAVMED, many other departments and commands with the U.S. Navy helped. The U.S. Air Force contributed by providing testing facilities for various capsule elements and making basic research information available. Civilian manufactures were most accommodating in providing rush orders of materials and even working overtime and on weekends to complete certain components. Often times these contributions were made without knowledge of the purpose or intent of the project.

Thus another step is taken in man's assault on the assault. And the one who actually took that step, a little squirrel monkey named "Baker", is living, happily with her less illustrious friends in special air-conditioned quarters at the U.S. Aviation Medical Center, Naval Air Station, Pensacola,
Florida.




COPY
"Rockwood"
48 Mountain Rd.
Aultland
New Zealand

July 7th, 1959



Dear Dr. Stulky:
This revolting picture was published here. If you will do this diabolical thing why send pictures of it ail over the world - we were all disgusted when the Russians sent up the poor dog, but what else expect of those people but your boys came here during the war, we loved them all - entertained them and many of our girls married them - what good are you doing? If you were not so pig-headed you could go up by yourself, several N.Z. people have up and Adamski met some of them when he was here, but you all so terrible Ignorant you will not listen, They cannot land until we become more open minded - if one should land here we would put them in jail or the lunatic asylum, but directly we overcome our terrible ignorance they will land to give us all the help and information we desire - why should this unfortunate little dark star as Lord Dowding calls it with its huge lunatic asylum, prisons, hospitals, wars and misery be the only world, it is too stupid to even contemplate, but our conceit is so colossal that we cannot realize anyone could know more than than we do. Have you ever studied ultra-vision, you should, maybe you could get in touch with people what could teach you quite a lot - I believe from someone who has just come back from the States that this machine is almost perfect. How two great burly men like you and Major Champlin could look so pleased with yourselves I can't think - most of us in N.Z. would like to send you both up in the next Rocket with something much more painful that a recording instrument under your skin. I am a very ope minded woman of 78 but I think I shall dream about this awful photograph of Able for weeks - Think you are two very nasty men.

Truly yours,



Mrs. Muriel Collins

Donald's written remarks on original letter:
I have gotten lots of complimentary "fan mail" but there are always some like this! Nutty as a fruit cake! Ha Ha.

He was married to Elizabeth RUSSELL (daughter of Walter Clair RUSSEL and Nellie Fay CUMMINS) on 7 Mar 1942 in Indianapolis, IN. Elizabeth RUSSELL was born on 9 Apr 1920 in Flint, MI. Notes from Donald: AB from DePauw University in 1942-Dedicated efficient wife mother-grandmother-housewife-household manager-den mother-Red Cross-Grey Lady, Etc. Etc. Donald Edward STULLKEN and Elizabeth RUSSELL had the following children:

+62 i. Russel Edward STULLKEN.
+63 ii. William George STULLKEN.
+64 iii. Walter Kurt STULLKEN.