Launch, flight, and recovery

The final phase to fly five pocket mice in the Apollo XVII command module was carried out at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. Upon completion of the 13-d space flight, the package was removed from the spacecraft and, after having been purged with an oxygen-helium gas mixture, was flown to American Samoa. Four of the five mice were recovered alive from the package. Analysis of the mouse that died during the flight revealed several factors that could have contributed to its death, the chief of which was massive hemorrhage in its middle ear cavities.