NASA plans to send mice into space on latest SpaceX rocket

If humanity wants to travel to Mars and beyond, we’re going to have to find out how to counteract the physical effects of long-term weightlessness and NASA is recruiting some small furry friends to help.

On Friday, a SpaceX rocket is set to deliver a group of 20 “mouse-tronauts” to the International Space Station as part of an experiment to understand the bone and muscle loss experienced by astronauts living in microgravity for an extended period of time.

“Spaceflight causes a rapid loss of bone and muscle mass especially in the legs and spine, with symptoms similar to those experienced by people with muscle wasting diseases or with limited mobility on Earth,” NASA said in a statement.

Why mice?

The space agency said it chose mice as a model of human physiology because the rodents are analogous to us in the ways that matter for the experiment. Importantly, mice also age much faster than us. When we look at at what occurs with mice as they age, we see they exhibit many of the same aging processes that humans display as they age. Past space-based research has shown how deterioration works over shorter periods, but we are lacking in long-term research.

The experiment involves specifically studying the effects of space on muscles. The project is sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and researchers will be testing a treatment that could potentially lead to remedies for ALS and Muscular Dystrophy.

“This flight in particular is important to our overall research program on the ISS,” Julie Robinson, a NASA spokesperson and chief scientist, told reporters in a teleconference. “SpaceX is a workhorse for us, carrying many late load payloads. This capability allows us to conduct important biological research with live animals.”

Once aboard the ISS, the mice will be split into two groups: one group will get a number of injections containing a unique myostatin inhibitor thought to impede the rate of muscle degeneration, and a control group. The exact same experiment will be carried out on the ground and the two groups will be compared.

The project scientists will be able to watch the mice via a live video feed as they carry out tasks intended to analyze their muscle function. One particular machine will test changes in their grasping strength throughout the 6-week mission. Once the mission concludes, the mice will be dissected and ultimately sent back to Earth for further evaluation.

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Image credit: Thinkstock

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