bios i press kit

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NEWS R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION1520 H S T R E E T , N O R T H W E S T . W A S H I N G T O N 2 5 , D . C .T E L E P H O N E S : D U D L E Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 . E X E C U T I V E 3 - 3 2 6 0FOR RELEASE: Sunday

November 12, 1961RELEASE NO. 61-246BIOS I

One of t h e most i n t e r e s t i n g and v i t a l a r e a s of s pa ce ex-p l o r a t i o n i s t h e e f f e c t of r a d i a t i o n (h i g h energy p r o t o n s )and weight lessness on l i v i ng ma t t e r . And, t he be s t l a bo r a to r yi n which t o s t u d y t h e s e e f f e c t s i s space i t s e l f .Withir! a few days--on o r about November 15--the NationalAeronaut ics and Space Adxin is t r a t ion w i l l a t t empt t o launcha recov erable space vehi c le coaztaining l i v i n g organisms on a

f l i g h t through t he Inn er Van Allen Radia t ion Bel t . The f i i g h t ,to a n a l t i t u d e of a bo ut 1,165 m i l e s , a l s o w i l l provide exposureto prolonged (about 25 minutes 1 weight lessness .The launch w i l l be f rom the Pac i f ic Missile Range, PointWrguel.lo, California. A four-stage Argo D-8 s o l i d r o ck e t,which i s about 62 f e e t t a l l and provides about 130,000 poundst h r u s t w i l l be used t o launch the 136-pound space vehicle ,Cal led BIOS a f t e r B i o lo g i ca l I n v e s t i g a ti o n s of Space,t h i s i s NASAOs second major launch from t h e Point Arguel lolaunch s i t e , A similar s o l i d p r o p e l l a n t r o ck e t , p a r t of th esuccessful NERV program (for Nuclear ESnuLsisn Recovery Vehicle)

was launched th er e i n September , 1960.S c i e n t i f i c o b j ec t iv e s of t h e BIOS program are to discovert h e e f f e c t of r a d i a t i o n on a v a r i e t y of small organisms, andt o s tudy how zero g r a v i t y e f f e c t s t h e growth ra te of ameobaecellss f e r t i l i z a t i o n and cell d i v i s i o n of s e a u r c h i n eggs andth e product ion of microspheres , I n a dd i t ion , t h e s p a c e c r a f tc a r r i e s a n e xper imen t t o c ha r t r a d ia t ion w i t h r e s p e c t t o i n -t e ns i t y , ge ogr a ph ic loc a t ion , and magne ti c f i e l d s , u s ing anu l e a r emuIs on eBIOS a l s o c a r r i e s a micrometeoroid exper iment t o reco rdim pacts of e x t r a t e r r e s t r i a l matter , W i t h t h i s experiment, i tmay a l s o b e p o s s i b l e t o r ec o ve r t i n y p a r t i c l e s o f matter f o ra na lys i s a nd pe r ha ps determinat ion of t h e i r o r i g in ,

NASA Goddard Space F l i g h t Center ,BIOS i s unde r th e o v e r a l l management of Charles E. Campell,


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Launch date and time for BIOS is set so the spacecraft willintercept a meteoric stream of particles in order to make fulluse of the micrometeoriod experiment. The particles are in theLeonids meteor stream, the decay of a comet in 1866.BIOS is designed to accomplish its goals at relatively low

cost, Two complete flight systems, including launch vehicles,spacecraft, and support equipment - plus a back-up spacecraft,are ready for use in BIOS. This hardware is surplus from theNERV Program, since the research goals of NERV were completelyachieved on the first flight. The launch vehicles cost about$150,000 each. The spacecraft cost about $200,000 each.NASA centers and contractors cooperating in the project. .are, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center- Project Management,Physical Science Experiments, and Contract Administration;NASA Ames Research Center - Bioscience Experiment; NASAMarshall Space Flight Center - Launch, Tracking and RecoveryOperation Management; Pacific Missile Range, Naval Missile

Facility, and U. S. First Fleet - Launch, Tracking and Re-covery Support; General Electric Co. - Spacecraft and Bio-science Experiment; Aerolab Development Co. - Rocket Vehicle;Thiokol Chemical Co. and Army Ordnance Missile Command - FirstStage Rocket Motors; Allegany Ballistic Laboratory and NavyBureau of Weapons - Fourth Stage Rocket Motor; Florida StateUniversity - Bioscience and Microsphere Experiments; Oak RidgeNational Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory of theA omic Energy Commission - Bioscience Experiments; UniversityOF Zurich, Switzerland, Bioscience Experiment; and ElginMicronics - Device for Micrometeorite Experiment, Spacecraftintegration was accomplished at the Ames Research Center.BIOS I SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

Experiments in the BIOS spacecraft are of two types:bioscience, and physical science. Bioscience experiments aredivided in two subgroups: radiation effects and zero gravityeffects. The NASA Ames Research Center, with Dr. R. S. Youngas systems manager, has responsibility for the bioscienceexperiments. Physical science experiments with Donald Kniffenand Otto Berg as system managers, are the responsibility ofthe NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.The biological experiments are designed to make use of

two unique aspects of the space environment--sub-gravity andVan Allen type radiations--as fundamental research tools. Avariety of radiation sensitive biological materials are includedin the payload to be studied upon recovery for genetic andcellular damage. Such information will be of importance tomanned space flight but the experiments are primarily designedt o use the space environment for research purposes,


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Bio s c i e n c e Experiments - Radiation Damageb i o l o g i c a l s c ie n ce s a t F l o r i d a S t a t e U n iv e ri t y, a r e g e n e t i cs t ud ie s , us ing th e mold neurospora. The f i r s t i s designed t od e t ec t mu ta t io n of g en es co n t ro l l i n g s t eps i n metabol ism,s u r v i v a l or dea t h , and p h y si o l og i c a l i n j u r y r e s u l t i n g i n a lossof a b i l i t y t o i n i t i a t e t h e growth pro ce ss. The second i s aback-mutation experiment, which w i l l measure mutation a f t e rexposure i n terms of p o p u la t i o n an d t en dency t o r ev e r t t oan o t h e r form. The th i rd w i l l ind ica te the f requency wi th whichl e t h a l mutat ions a re produced i n th e specimens by r a d i a t i o n ,

Three experim ents by Dr. A. G i b Debusk, depar tmen t of

A se r i e s of experiments i s planned t o determine "surv iva land Mutat ion i n Neurospora Cbnidia" by Frederick J. deScrres ,b i o l o g y d i v i s i o n , Oak Ridge National Laboratory.Howard I . Adler, b i o l o g y d i v i s i o n , Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory, w i l l conduct an experiment concerned w i t h "Deter-minat ion of V i a b i l i t y o f a Radia t ion Se ns i t iv e Bacter ium."

A b a c t e r i a commonly found i n human in t e s t i n e s , w i l l be ex-posed for l a t e r a n a l y s i s as t o i t s c a p a b i l i t y t o grow anddevelop normally.Using human blood, an e xpe rim ent by Michael A. Bender,b i o l o y d i v i s i o n Oak Ridge National Laboratory , w i l l i n v e s t i -g a t e 'Natural Ra di at io n E f f e c t s on Human Chomosomes. 'I Theblood w i l l b e drawn as soon as p o s s i b l e b e fo re l au n ch ; theexposed samples w i l l b e s t u d i e d as soon as p o s s i b l e a f t e rrecovery f o r chromosome damage.An experiment t o determ ine th e "Inf luence of Space En-vironment on Chomosomes of Grasshopper Neuroblasts , '' w i l l beconducted by Mary Ester Gaulden and R. C. von Bo rs te l of th eOak Ridge National Laboratory, biol ogy di vi si on . Becausei t i s known t h a t t h e l a rg e n eu ro b l a s t , a n erv e f i b e r i n e a r l ystages of development i n a p a r t i a l l y h a tch ed g ras s ho p pe r eggi s e x t r e m e l y s e n s i t i v e t o r a d i a t i o n , these n eu ro b l a s t s w i l lbe exposed t o s pa ce r a d i a t i o n , t h e n " f i xe d " t h r e e t o e i g h thours a f t e r exposure . Analys i s w i l l show how chromosomes i nth e c e l l s were broke n o r damaged due t o t h e r a d i a t i o n ,James A , Eugster of th e Un iv er s i t i es of Bern and Zurich,Switzer land, i s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e BIOS program wi th anexperiment us in g t h e seed from a s p e c i a l s t r a i n of barley known

as Hordeum Bonus B l g , which has been s tud ied f o r i t s r e a c t i o n st o i r r a d i a t i o n f o r s e v e r al ye ar s . A complete follow-upa n a l y s i s of muta tions i n descendant s of t h e exposed seeds w i l lbe made.-3-


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d i v i d e a t e x a c t l y t h e s d m ~ nei Because of t h i s n a t u r a lsynchroniza t ion, and beeawe the amoebae BR vm t o be v i r -tually immune t o r a d ia tdon dmages t h e y areof de te c t ing "Ef f e c t s o f ravity auad raapiid .position Changeof plasmotomy" i n a n expeG en er al E l e c t r i c Co., an8 Dz(, Edward W, Daniels of the ArgonneNational Labora tory.R e s u l t s of t h e experiment w i l l show how t h e amoebae 's .r egu la r g rowth r a t e and Life cyc le i s affected by we igh t le ss -n e ss , a c c e l e r a t i o n f o r c e s, and rapad change i n geographica lp o s i t i o n ,Ln an envir onm ent 'chat i s as near normal as p o s s i b l e .of the NASA Ames Research Center, a b io log ic a f sy s t e m hasbeen designed which can be ac t i va te d and seopped dur ing t h en e a r z e ro g r a v i t y phase of t h e f l i g h t , With t h i s experiment,two quest ions of fundamental importance may be answered: (1)Does the absence of g r a v i t y have any e f f e c t on f e r t i l i z a t i o n ?and ( 2 ) Does the abaence of g r a v i t y have any e f f e c t on c e l ld i v i s i o n ?

nt by I&+, D, R,. gckberg of t h e

During the f l i g h t , t h e amoebae w i l l , be mainta inedUrcMn Experiment" by D r . Richard S. Y

The e f f e c t of n e a r z e ru g r a v i t y on basic- c e l l u l a r p ro -c e s se s suc h as f e r t i l i z a t i o n and e e l 1 d i v i s i o n i s of grea ti n t e r e s t a nd im po rt an ce t o b i o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n s p ac e.A s i n g l e c e l l d i v i s io n i n the sea ur c h in egg is completed i n1 - 2 minutes , and t h e BIOS m i s s on i s expected t o produce 'about 25 minutes of weightlessne s , Thus, the e n t i r e e x p er i-ment nay be begun and ended during t h a t phase of f l i g h t , w i t hs i m u l t a n e o u s i n - f l i g h t and ground cont ro l ,w i t h th e d i s t i n c t a d v a n t a g e of' o f f e r i n g a bioltogicaL systemwhich can be a c t i v a t e d a t w i l l by in t r oduc ing sperm t o t h e egg,When t h e f e r t i l i z a t i o n r ea c t i on 3.s i n i t i a t e d , the egg proceedst o d i v i d e i n a n o r d e r l y a nd c l o c k - l i k e way.been designed which w i l l t ' *his r e a c t i s i g n a l , on thelaunch pad, or a t the bns& efo:bgravity, o t r i g g e r e d o n

The sea u r c h i n egg is a r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e r e s e a rc h m a t e r i a l

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the launch pad are designed t o teesf, h e effect of weightlessness oncell division. The first div:islo:2 of the egg will occur 50 minutesafter fertilization, so the sperms are inJected into the egg sus-pension in the vehicle on the launch pad at 48-49 inutes beforeweightlessness OCCUTS, At; the end of the zero gravity phase offlight a fixative will be injected into the capsules on signal,killing the cells f o r study u.por: recovery. Another series ofcapsules w i l l b e triggeredthe fertilization process, v~hichoccuFes in 1-2 minu.testhe onset of weightlessness to studyPhysical Science ExDeriments

Donald A, mif fe n, Space Sciences Division of the NASA GoddardSpace Flight Center, is responsible for#a "Nuclear Emulsion Ex-periment" as a tool to explore characteristics of Inner Van AlienBelt radiation and assess its hazards to bioiogical systems, Thenuclear emulsion, like Drdinary photographic film, consists ofsilver bromide grains embedded i r _ wlatin,film in itsBecause of i& ,th$ckFess, almost two weeks is required t o processthe emulsion.The emulsion records the passage of any charged particle whichhas enough speed to penetrate, Processing the emusion provides apermanent record of the number of particles, their charge, massand velocity, and the direction in space in which they were travel-ing with relation to the em-dlsisn,to map out the radiation around the earth, If biological specimensare exposed at the same time, the effect of radiation on thesespecimens can be related t o the d.osage as yecorded in the emulsion,Protons above an energy of eight million electron volts, andelectrons above an energy of l Q 0 thousand electron volts will bedetected,

formed in the NERV prograx corducted in September 1960.Division of the NA SA Goddard Spzzce Flight Center, is part of amajor NASA research effort on investigations of extraterrestrialdust and the study of craters produced by hypervelocity micro-scopic particles. Excep', for mteorites, no certain samples ofextraterrestrial dust exist, Similarly, crater studies fromhypervelocity particles are limited to those from meteorites whichhave penetrated to the earth!s surface, or t o recent laboratorystudies of craters rormed by particles having velocities ozly asgreat as that of the slowest micrometeorite velocities.

It,differs from ordinaryreater thickness and hfghek percentage of Isklver bromide,

This is the information required

The experiment is essen.tially the same as that per-The "Micrometeoroid Experiment" by Otto E, Berg, Space Sciences

Recent measurements from the satellites Pioneer I11 and Ex-plorer IV show that large increases in micrometeoroid densitiesoccur during annual meteor. s+,reams, The BIOS launch on November15, 16, or 17, is timed to place the spacecraft in one of thesepredicted meteoric streams,-5


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The micrometoroid experiment, using a c a r e f u l ly p r e pa r e dc y l i n d e r of' l u c i t e p l a s t i c , i s designed to record and recoverp o s i t i v e e vi de nc e of impacts , It I s p o s s i b l e t h a t s u f f i c i e n tmlcrometeoroid d ebyis w i l l be recovered from t h e l u c i t e t o warranta n a l y s i s f o r a b e t t e r unders tanding of t h e i r o r i g i n , The c y l inde rwill be sub je c t e d to c r a t e r a n a l y s i s as a means of learning morea bo ut t h e im pa ct in g p a r t i c l e s , The l u c i t e s l e e v e i s photographica l-l y s ca nned g u s t be f o r e f l i g h t , , thef i extended outs ide the space-craft f r o m a l t i t u d e s of 200 t o 600 mi les . Photographic scanninga f t e r t h e f l i g h t w i l l reveal micrometeoroid impacts that c c c u r mdduring th e exposure,

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MISSION - S'JBSYSTEMSThe BIOS exp er iment s ca r r i e d i n an ae ro d yn amica ll y s t ab l ereen t ry - recovery veh ic le w i l l b e l aun ch ed t o an a l t i t u d e of ab ou t1,165 s t a t u t e miles and a range of o v er 1 ,0 0 0 s t a t u t e miles ,a d d i ti o n t o t h e biological . and micrometeoroid experiments th es p a c ec r a f t c a r r i e s w i t h in i t s h e a t s h i e l d a n d b a s i c s t r u c t u r etwo major subsystems - th e emulsion subsystem and th e r ecoverysubsystem

In

Functioning of t h e subsystems during f l i g h t i s timed andi n i t i a t e d by a programmer u n i t which us es G-forces and tim edelays t o s t a r t and s t op emulsion exposure , t r i g ge r b io log-i c a l exp er imen t ev en t s, d esp i n, ac t i v a t e r eco v ery c i r c u i t sand separa te t h e recovery vehicle f rom t h e adapter . Eventsaf ter separat ion are programmed by a recovery c on t r o l l e r whicha l s o u se s time delays and G-forces t o deploy a p arach u t e , e j ec tradar c h a f f , a c t i v a t e t h e ra d io beacon and f l as h in g recoveryl i g h t , and separa te t h e parachute a f t e r impact.,A l t i t u d e Time Event

125 S t . M i . , 99 sec . Four th s t a ge burnou t200 St. M i . 1min, 55 see, Despin-expose emulsion23.5 S t . M i . 1min, 59 s e c , I n i t u a t e sea urch in400 S t , M i . 24 mine 28 sec . Ret rac t Ehu ls ion

experimentend sea urchin experiment

375 S t . M i . Separa te 4 th s tage b o o s t e rand adapter76 St. M i S t a r t r e e nt r y35,000 F t . 27 min. 12 se c. Par ach ute deploymentRadar c h a f f e j e c t i o nChaff beacon t ransmits .0 Ft . 37 mine 1 2 see. Water impact Parachutecut-off Dye emissionF l o t a t i o n Chaff beacon

t r a n s m i t sThe recoverable p a r t of the BIOS s p a c e c r a f t i s an acorn-shaped capsule w i t h an ab l a t i o n t y pe h ea t s h i e l d . It i s 19-inchesi n d iameter and about 17 inches long. The adapter i s a 19-inchd iainete r cy l in dr ic a l se c t i on about 29-inches long . I t con ta insa C-band radar beacon f o r t ra ckin g. Design weight of th e complete

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s pacec ra f t i nc l ud i ng adapter i s 136 pounds a t l i f t o f f . Therecovery vehic le alone weighs 86 pounds a t r een t ry , and 73pounds at impa-ct snd f lc ta t ior , .S t a b i E f z a t i e n and control 1s provided by f i n s i n the f i r s tt h r e e o f t h e f o u r stagesegyroscopic forces from roll induced by canted t h i r d stage f i n s ,The s p a c e c r a f t i s attashad to t h e f o u r t h s tage and w l P l b edespun a t 120 seconds, The motion of khe s p a ce c r af t a f t e rs h ~ u l d e s u l t l a ? a near zero g r a v i t y condi t ion . Immediatelybe fo re Peentrys the recovery vehic le w i l l b e separated fromth e f o u r t h stage and given a snra31.l ini$ial tumble.

E l e c t r i c CompanygaMissile 2nd Space Vehiels D$vision, and N A S AGoddard Space PlLgkht Center pepson-nel at Vandenberg Air Force,by GE-MSVD and ins t rumented by NA S A Amea Reaearek~Center, andplaced at th e launch pad 60 provkde a temperature r n o n i t w acdr e f e r ence f o r the bi .sPogieal experiments mounted i n the ac5ua1

The fourth s t a g e be stabilized by

The spacecraf t w i l l be assembled and checked ou t by Generalc%l%foPni%. I n a d d i t i o n , a p r o t o t y p e s p acec ra f t w i n be; assembled

flight paylQ%dIns taP la t ion of" t h e experiments i n the payload W A X b e byGE-IMSD and th e fndiv%dual exper imente rs , A l l experiments wlththe except ion of the s e a urchin eggs, wL2, l b e i r r ska l l ed between

urch i n eggss th%s e x p e r b e n 5 w i 9 1 b e i n s % a l l e d 8% T-7 hours ,1"-12 and T-10 ~ C YU T S . 80 t he c r l , t i ~ a %ife C J P C % ~~f the


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BIOSLAUNCH TRACKING AND RECOVERY

Launch V e h i c l eThe Argo D-8 i s a four -s tage , unguided, s o l i d p ro pe l l an t

ro ck et des igne d by th e Aerolab Development Cow. It i s 62 f e e tlong and weighs about 14,030 pounds, The rocket motors a re :F i r s t Stage - ThiokoL TX 20 Sergeant motor w i t h ap a i r of smal l e r Recru i t rocke t s .Second Stage - Lance XM-33 rocke t motor by GrandCentral Recket Co.T h i r d Stage - Lance XM-33 r o c k e t motor by GrandCentral Rocket Co.F w r t h Stage - A li eg an y B a l l i s t i c s L ab o ra t ory

X248-A6 motor.The Vehicle i s f i n - s t a b i l i z e d f o r t h e f i r s t t h r e e s t a g e s .The f o u r t h s t a g e i s s p i n s t a b i l i z e d by i nd uc ed roll from the f i n son t h e t h i r d s ta ge . Burnout ve lo c i t y ( 9 9 seconds a f t e r l i f t o f f ) ,i s more than 17,000 f e e t p e r second or about 11,500 MPH.

Launcht h e P a c i f i c Missile Range a t t h e Naval Missile F a c i l i t y , P o i n tArguello, Cal i f . , under th e k c h n i c a i fapervis ion of t he NASAWallops Stat ion, Wallops Island, V a . w i t h t e c h n i c a l c o n s u l t a t i o nan d a s s i s t an ce b y t h e Werolab Development Corp. The f l i g h tv eh i c l e and a back-up vehicle were prepared s imul taneously a tPoint Arguel lo ,

The Argo D-8 rocke t i s assembled by the Launch Division of

Proper aiming of t h e Launcher i s an impor tan t aspec t of t h elaunch phase ,compensation must be made for wind ef fec t s on th e veh ic le . Cor-re ct io n techniques developed by Robert L. Jamex, Jr. of t h e NASALangley Research Center and su cc es sf ul l y appl ied t o th e Argo D-8i n t h e NEW program w i l l also b e used on BIOS , These correct ionsa r e base d on many sim ula te d computer f l i g h t s of the Argo D -8 i nv a r i o u s wind p r o f i l e s t o e s t a b l i s h veh ic le response t o winds.The Pa ci f i c Miss i le Range provides d et ai le d weather informat ionfar applying wind cor re ct i on s .

S ince the A r ~ g -8 i s an unguided veh icle , acc ura te

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Launch time for the BIOS will be chosen t o coincide with firstlight at the impact area. The early hour will enhance the prob-ability of having calm wind conditions at the launch site. Inaddition, a dawn launch will give recovery forces an opportunityto spot the glow of the spacecraft as it enters the earth's atmos-phere.In Flight

The BIOS vehicle will be tracked by Pacific Missile Rangeradar units until well after last stage burnout. If the opera-tion is normal, first impact prediction from a computer at PMRwill be available to the recovery force five minutes after liftoff,Recovers

The Commander, U, S. First Fleet, is responsible for 3he re-covery operation. The recovery group Commander, Capt, E, p. Rankin,with assistance of an advisory group of representatives from NASAand the PMR, will have a recovery force of three recovery shipsfrom the First Fleet, two search aircraft from the PMR and twohelicopters at the predicted impact area.

The ships are:The USS Pine Island, a seaplane tender, Capt. Rankin; USSBenner, destroyer radar picket ship, Cdr. J, E, Dmchnik; USSEverett F. Lslrson, Destroyer radar picket s h i p , Cdr, D, V.Schermerhorn, and the Ranger Tracker, a PMR instrumented rangeship.The aircraft should receive the BIOS recovery beacon sigmlabout 27 minutes after rocket liftoff, During practice runs theaircraft have been able to home on the signal from a range of 150nautical miles. After locating the payload the aircraft marksthe location with smoke flares and directs the nearest recoveryship to the recovery area,

ship where project scientists will remove the experiments. Theship is equipped with laboratory equipment necessary t o accomplishpreliminary processing of time-dependent bioscience experiments.The recovery force w i l l return to San Diego in zbaut three days,The experiments will be Peturned to the experimenters and thereentry vehicle will be returned to General Electric MSVD foranalysisBackup Vehicle

In order to take f u l l advantage of the availability of therecovery forces, a second launching is planned in the event the f i r s tfails.first, The Project Manager will determine the necessity of usingthe second vehicle within six hours after the first launching.

After recovery, the payload will be transferred to the command

Tne second launching would be made about 48 hours after thi?

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bios i press kit

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