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Mice Headed for Mars?
MarsOrBust writes: "The Mars Society today announced their next project, called TransLife, will be to send an Apollo size spacecraft manned by mice into earth orbit rotating at Mars gravity. This will be the first time anyone has done research at Martian gravity. The purpose of the experiments is to prove that the transit to Mars, which would take about six months, should be done at Martian gravity. The project would cost about $10 million. In a related article SpaceRef talks about how millionaires are now starting to fund these type of private missions and speculates whether billionaires might fund further space projects." MSNBC has a story.
Yes, I can see it now:
"What are we going to do tonight, Brain?"
"The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over Mars!"
Or maybe I just need more sleep...
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When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer our friend.
It will be truly interesting to observe the effects of mars gravity on mice.
A while back I remember reading about the changes that would happen to man were we to habitate Mars. Such changes would include, but were not limited to:
1) Growth. People nowadays are tall, but it's not inconceivable that we would grow more than ten feet tall. This is due to the lack of gravity, thus our bodies having much less force against them growing skywards.
2) Chest size. Some people like bigs tits / pecs. Well, were we to live on mars, another size effect of the lack of gravity would be a massive swelling of the chest area to immense proportions. This would accomodate a much greater lung capacity as well.
I for one can't wait to see qute what happens to the mice.
..someone's realized who's the most intelligent species on the planet.
(Please don't tell me you didn't get *that* cultural reference...)
-- If no truths are spoken then no lies can hide --
manned by mice
Shouldn't that be miced?
Microsoft (R) Mouse Driver Version 8.20a
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. 1983-1992. All rights reserved.
The mice just want to get the answer off the planet before the Vogons destroy it.
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
Wouldn't all the mice starve to death when their teeth fall out?
:(
(I would link to previous article but the search engine doesn't work and couldn't find it on Google
Zubrin: Why is there blood running out of their ears?
Scientist: Because you're an idiot!
The 2nd generation of mice will never get to experience 1g until they land. I'm sure that'll make for a great mortality rate.
C3P0: "Doesn't look like the princess to me."
Miss Piggy: "Watch it, hardware."
[humor courtesy of http://moviescript.scriptmania.com/starwars/muppet .html]
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Hey wait a minute here. Everyone knows that the standard mouse is only really practical in gravity. If you use a mouse in zero G, you have to hold it down against a table, and obviously holding it down would almost certainly make you bounce off into the depths of space (think Darth Vader). For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...
Now, what they *should* be using for a pointing device is a trackball. That way they don't have to hold it down and therefore will remain safe. Man these space guys sure are dumb. First it's the whole feet and meters thing, now this.
"He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil."
For humans at least, it's generally accepted that you don't want to spin faster than 1 RPM for artificial gravity. I know they're only aiming for 1/3 G, but that's a linear term in the equation, and an Apollo-sized capsule would still need to spin pretty fast. Or does the smaller size of mice translate to a more robust inner ear, at least for rotation?
Someone else was concerned about the second generation mice coming back to Earth. Maybe the first generation will be too dizzy and nauseous to make a second generation.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Or just containing mice?
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
How many $millions$ will have to be spent to get the mice back so that the animal rights people don't try to shut down NASA?
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
"In a related article SpaceRef talks about how millionaires are now starting to fund these type of private missions and speculates whether billionaires might fund further space projects."
Depends on your political preference really. Lots of stuff seems to have been done by government funded projects up to now. Suppose it's an option in a free market economy though. Shame these kind of guys don't decide to spend their billions on hospitals or schools or finding a cure for cancer though.
I reckon philanthropy aimed at funding the education system would probably be a more surefire, longer term, likely way of gettting successful space missions happening. I mean if tobacco companies can sponsor universities on the proviso that their beneficeries say nice things about cigarrettes (or at least not bad things) then surely it wouldn't be too hard to persuade a university to accept a few billion provided it made sure a number of students study space sciences.
I'm opposed to fur, not because of animal rights or anything like that, but because I think it looks ugly.
My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
Could you imagine those mice up there on the moon with all that cheese around? That would mean the end of it!
While I'm dismayed that the government sees virtually no value in funding any space missions beyond the slow-moving International Space Station [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/], I'm even more frightened when I consider that future space exploration may be limited to Individuals and Private Corporations, whose main concern is their own pocketbooks, and not the benefit of humanity. I would gladly welcome a global space organization that could put aside the petty world of greed & politics.
However,
NASA always gave astronauts those "black pills" that could quickly and painlessly let them commit suicide in the event of disaster... I guess the mouse equivelant is a biggg, nice piece of cheese... and a mouse trap.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
While I am sure that this discussion could indefinitely continue to both humorously and with sincerity extol the virtue of rodents circling the planet at a high altitude while simultaneously rotating around their ship's axis. I think that the possibility exists that there is more to the article.
For instance, and perhaps old news, but the private funding and research of interplanetary travel; the Mars Society a notable example. To my understanding, the Society is not NASA run at all (?)
These people are seriously involved in creating a humanned trip to Mars, and not unlike open source, seek participation from skilled people to run a variety of research and experiments.
---ah, what the hell . . .
"PPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGSSSSSSSSSS
IIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
SSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCEEEEEEE !!!!!!!"
Miced by mice is a tautology. You simply want to say "a miced spacecraft". Or better still "a moused spacecraft".
-- SIGFPE
Most humans get nauseous under one RPM; what about mice?
Power to the Peaceful
I spent a year working in a genetics lab doing research on lab mice. (How many western blots can you do in a day?) Genetic testing on animals allows for quick growth to a mature age, the ability to quickly see the effect on several generations of treatment, and provides a significantly easier way to test for effects and what have you. Some research requires brain examination, some requires cell harvesting. Try telling a person, "I'm sorry but we need to kill you now so we can examine your brain" is an impsibility. Attempting to perform research without animals, delays the ability for cures to be found. While I was there I saw promising research in many varieties of cancer, AIDs treatments, blood diseases, aging, and many others. The researchers who work there don't stand over the mice laughing maniacally as they perform tests, they perform as few tests as possible, conserve as much material as possible, and otherwise try to provide the mice as comfortable an environment with all things considered...
Even if the same resarch was allowed to be done on people, generations would need to live and die to see certain effects. In twenty years worth of mice, several generations may be explored. With humans, one hundred years of research probably only yields four generations.
Right now, genetic research is necessary - which means animal testing is necessary. Give genetics fifty more years of maturity and maybe it won't have as much of a need on animals, right now they are the mainstay.
But, I will agree with you in this case, using millionares sounds like a good idea too... just the mice need to go as well so the research is actually usefull.
You say you want a revolution?
Finally Martian Armies took the last Mankind's strongold. And finally the Solar System will be get rid of this miserable, cowardous and treacherous race of primates...
All started in some rainy day in the beginning of the XXI century. Back then, among some monkeys an idea came to use some of our ancesters to explore Mars. Under the name of what they called Science, thousands of our brothers were sent to Mars. They suffered from lower gravity, high doses of radiation, hunger and lack of oxygen. They died by the thousands. And the monkeys, not satisfied with this suffering tried to genetically modify and clone our borthers so that they could serve as miserable intruments of their ambitious "conque of Mars".
However we, Rats, have had a long tradition of freedom and self-conscience. Truly the monkeys have had overcome us by size and strength. With the exception of a few minor rebelions made by some of the most corageous rats in the Middle Ages, we had to hide under earth, in small caves and holes till we could wait our hour.
That hour came when the hideous "scientific" experiments gave birth to the Martian "stainless steel rats II" as the monkey monsters named them. Higher and stronger than monkeys they manage to stage the first rebellion that successfully freed Mars from the claws of the human race. For hundreds of years we fought a path back home to free our more little brothers. Many millions died on this march...
But today we finally took the last strongold. After long hours of fight, the monkeys agreed on a unconditional surrendering. We could destroy all of them but our higher rathan principles should prevail over our longstanding will of revenge. Humbly we will close all of them into zoos and genetic labs.
Hang on, isn't this how Planet of the Mice starts?
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
for their own good. Either that or they're just looking for 10 mill to play with neat toys. Can't say as I blame them for that, being one of them and all.
Look, no one needs to "prove" that traveling to Mars at 1MG would be a good idea. Anyone halfway attuned to the issues could rattle off 20 good reasons for doing this in no more than 60 seconds.
What's more, this won't "prove" anything. It will offer *support* for the above mentioned good reasons, none of which anybody questions in the first place.
What reasons would there be for NOT making the trip at 1MG?
There's only one really, and it's one of pure practicallity. To travel to Mars at 1MG you must, by *definition*, accelerate at 1MG for the entire duration of the trip!
As opposed to boosting out of Earth orbit, coasting most of the way at no fuel cost and braking when you get there.
The fact of the matter is that this so called "proof" is moot. If we can figure out a way to go at 1MG we will, If we can't, we won't.
I thinks these guys just like to play with rockets and dick around with mice.
KFG
"But why, some say, Mars? Why choose this as our goal? We choose to send our mice to Mars. We choose to send them to Mars in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are really easy, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is the biggest one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
-- President G.W. Bush, Jan 23, 2002
(Now watch some idiot file for a patent.)
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Not only that, but they disguised the mice as human astronauts.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.