14 DAY TRIAL // Chances are few people in this world have until now been visited by the green-eyed monster on account of how much cooler the life of some really lucky mice or rats is. Still, it appears that things are about to chance.
Thus, NASA, has recently revealed a state-of-the-art temporary housing establishment (yes, that's fancy talk for cage) that will soon carry a bunch of rodents to the International Space Station.
This high-tech cage, a picture of which is available above, is dubbed the SpaceX Dragon, and specialists working with NASA describe it as an unmanned cargo ship, NDTV informs.
Information shared with the public says that the cargo ship is the brainchild of scientists at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, and that it can accommodate for 10 mice or 6 rats at a time.
Since NASA is not one to deny rodents the possibility to travel in style, the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is well equipped to tend to the rodent's every wishes and desires, i.e. water, food, fresh air, and lighting.
While on their way to the International Space Station, the mice or rats that will get to travel in this high-tech cage will be confined to the cargo ship's transport module, the Administration details in a press release on the matter at hand.
After reaching their destination, they will be guided towards the rodent habitat aboard the Station with the help of an access module which is intended to ensure the animals do not pull a Houdini and disappear for a while only to show up in the control panels moments later.
The SpaceX Dragon's maiden voyage is scheduled for this year's August, and rumor has it that NASA is now busy interviewing mice and rats, and trying to the decide which of them if worthy enough to travel into space in this high-tech cargo ship.
In case anyone was wondering, the Administration wants to send rodents to the International Space Station not because astronauts are terribly bored and could sure use the company. On the contrary, the animals are intended for research into how space conditions might affect the human body.
“Researchers study rodents in space to understand better how microgravity affects various body systems and to discover what cellular, genetic and molecular mechanisms are responsible for spaceflight-induced changes,” NASA writes on its website.
“Researchers can apply knowledge of these mechanisms to develop ways to prevent or treat adverse effects of spaceflight,” the Administration goes on to explain.