Mice In Space

benmcgruer writes "Space.com is reporting on the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program. This international, student-lead, project aims to explores the topical issue of biological response to low gravity, specifically the 0.38-g found on Mars, by building and launching their own satellite, complete with 15 mice. NASA, Fark.com and Universe Today also have coverage."

Comments

Fark != News

[Anonymous Coward]

If you think the message board on Fark is a legitimate source of news, you've been reading them too long.

Hrrr.

[Mukaikubo]

I wonder how much of the data will be irrelevant because mice walk on four legs, not two, thus decreasing the bone loss?

Mass

[tr0llb4rt0]

Reduction of gravity means eduction of weight not mass.

Surely to get a significant reading you'd need a mammal of equivalent mass and biology.

The weightlessness experience of the MIR cosmonauts provides much better space biology than sending a few mice into space.

And wtf is the IIS for then???

And this is not a reduced G vs micro G comment.

It will come back?

[John Seminal]

The spacecraft is composed of three main subsystems, as shown. The Payload Module, developed at MIT, provides life support capabilities and data telemetry/storage from onboard experiments; the Entry Descent and Landing system, developed at the University of Queensland, carries the payload safely back to Earth at the conclusion of the mission and protects it from heat and impact shocks during descent and landing; and the Spacecraft Bus, developed at the University of Washington, contains the orbital systems providing navigation, propulsion, power, communications, and environmental regulation throughout the mission.

How much extra will it cost to bring the unit back to earth? I would save a little money on the return trip and add more sensors (or better sensors), maybe plan more experiments.

This is cool. If I was a physics student in highschool, I think MIT jumped to the head of the class. What is Cal-Tech going to do to top this?

Re:It will come back?

[zeux]

They need them back to see how they re-adapt to Earth gravity after 5 weeks at 0.38g.

Maybe they could make the satellite spin even faster to reach 1.0g ?

Fark.com?

[ShawnDoc]

Isn't it kind of a stretch to say Fark.com has coverage of it? At least Slashdot tends to give you a paragraph or two summary, at fark you get one line, and a bunch of unmoderated comments.

Not a one-way mission....

[Chibi]

I was initially worried about the ethics of sending mice on a one-way mission to Mars ("gee, let's see the effects of starvation in the low-gravity environment"), but I was glad to see that this will only be a simulation with the intent of bringing the mice back:

The goal of the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program is to send the mice into near-Earth orbit inside a one-meter space ship simulating Mars' gravity, then bring them back to Earth... The mouse cages will be designed for comfort and protection with room for the little travelers to lope around for exercise in the simulated gravity of Mars.

No wheels?

[Door-opening Fascist]

NASA has learned that exercise can counteract some of the effects of low-gravity on astronauts.

I don't understand this rationale not give any of the mice wheels. The first humans on Mars are unlikely to be sitting in front of a TV drinking beer all day; they'll be experiencing a significant amount of exercise maintaining the habitat, exploring, and conducting research. Give at least a few of them wheels.