Analysis of evaporative water loss in the Skylab astronauts

Daily evaporative water losses (EWL) during the three Skylab missions were measured using the indirect mass and water balance techniques. A mean inflight EWL of 860 ml/day-m 2 was obtained for nine men who averaged one hour of daily exercise. Although it was expected the EWL would increase in the hypobaric environment of Skylab (1/3 atmosphere), an average decrease from preflight sea level conditions of 11 percent was measured. The results suggest that weightlessness may have been a factor in modifying EWL primarily by decreasing sweat losses during exercise and possibly by reducing insensible skin losses as well. The weightless environment apparently promotes the formation of a sweat film on the skin surface both directly, by reducing heat and mass convective flow and sweat drippage, and perhaps indirectly by inducing measurable biochemical changes resulting in high initial sweating rates. It is proposed that these high levels of skin wettedness favor sweat suppression by a previously described mechanism.