The Telegraph reported in February on a joint British-American effort to send mice into orbit for an extended period of time in order to better understand the effects of living in a partial gravity environment.
The experiment, projected to cost 13 million pounds, would launch 15 mice into a near-Earth orbit for five weeks. The cylindrical spacecraft will spin in order to create a gravity effect similar to Mars. The spacecraft will then return to Earth and the mice studied for the effects that living in such an environment has on mammalian bodies.
Despite decades of space exploration, there is surprisingly little information on the effects of long-term exposure to living in such environments. The deleterious effects of long-term weightlessness are well documented thanks to the astronauts who live aboard the International Space Station. But according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Paul Wooster,
The only data we have for partial gravity comes from the Apollo astronauts who spent a couple of days on the surface of the moon. . . Scientists do not yet know whether partial gravity is sufficient to prevent these health hazards [associated with living in a zero gravity environment]. A crew of mice will provide the first answer.
Maybe we could send a PETA activist along to protest and hand out “mouse astronaut” cards to any extraterrestrial children they might encounter.
Source:
‘Mouse-tronauts’ to pave way for men on Mars. Roger Highfield, Telegraph (UK), February 7, 2004.