Animal astronauts
The last lunar
venturers
Four survived, one perished
EvenatthetimeApollo 17 wasa poignant
mission,concludingtheApolloprogramandso
signallinganendtohumantraveltotheMoonfor
theforeseeablefuture.Yetthesmallestoccupants
onthemissionofferedhopethathumanitywould
soonbeventuringevenfurtherafield,toMars.
Thiswasbecausetheyhadbeenimplantedwith
radiationmonitorsundertheirscalpstostudythe
effectsofcosmicraysduringlongspacetravel.
Oneoftheanimalsdiedduringthemissionfor
unknownreasons,buttheotherfourremained
alive,circlingaroundtheMoona recordof 75
timesin 147 hoursand 43 minuteswith
astronautRonEvans,whileEugeneCernan
andHarrisonSchmittwereconductingthelast
moonwalksbelow.AftertheirreturntoEarththe
fourremaininglivemicewerekilledanddissected,andalthoughlesions
inthescalpandliver
weredetectedthey
appearedtobeunrelatedto
oneanother,andwerenotthoughttobe
theresultofcosmicrays.Furthermore,no
significantdamagewasfoundtothemice’sbrains,
eyeretinasorotherorgans.Thoughinconclusive,
scientistsstilllearneda valuablelessonfromthe
rodentexperiment– thatcosmic-rayexperiments
inparticleacceleratorsonEarthcouldbeuseful,
astheyofferedsimilarresultstomuchmore
difficultspaceexperiments.Asa result,significant
progressinradiobiologyhasbeenmadein
recentdecadestowardsunderstandingthe
effectsofcosmicraysonhumansforfuture
Marsmissions.High-schoolstudentJudithMileswasthesparkthatledtothefirst
spidernautsliftingofffromEarth.Sheproposedanexperiment
toNASAcalled‘WebFormationinZeroGravity’,inwhichspiders
wouldbereleasedintoa boxwherecameraswouldrecordtheir
actions to assess how well they adapted to the absence of gravity.
Itwas known that the geometrical structure of the web of an
orb-weaving spider provides a good measure of the condition
ofitscentral nervous system. And it was thought that since
spiders sense their own weight to judge how thick to weave
theirweb, and use both the wind and gravity to sense when to
begin construction, the lack of gravity in space would pose some
serious issues for the arachnids. NASA agreed to the idea, and
in1973 two garden spiders called Anita and Arabella along with
theexperimental apparatus f lew aboard the Skylab 3 mission.
Though their initial efforts were distinctly confused, both spiders
managed to spin sensible webs by the end of the mission, even
though they were slightly finer than on Earth. Though they both
died from dehydration during their f light, Anita and Arabella
are preserved at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in
Washington, DC. More recently, in 2008 and 2011, orb-weaver
spiders were selected for further web-spinning experiments
aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and a red-back
jumping spider named Nefertiti was sent to see if it
could still hunt effectively in zero gravity. All spiders showed
remarkable adaptability.Weaving a web
of knowledge
Both perished7 December
(^19)
(^72)
/ 1
(^2).
5
d
a
y
s
28
July
(^1973)
/ 5
9
d
a
y
s
Space
swimmers
Medaka– alsoknown
as Japanese rice fish –
are ideal for laboratory
experiments. Not only
hardy and simple to rear,
they also have transparent
skin, making it easier for
researchers to see what
is going on inside their
bodies. They have been a
popular choice for marine
experiments in space –
carryingthedistinction
ofhavingbeen the first
vertebratetosuccessfully
mateinorbit,with fry
hatchingonthe Space
ShuttleColumbia in
1994.When JAXA –
theJapanese space
agency– wanted
toconduct an
experiment to see
howfishwould respond
toradiationimpact, bone
degradationand muscle
wastage,medaka were
thenaturalchoice. The
medaka reached the ISS in
2012, and were transferred
to the station’s Aquatic
Habitat, a purpose-
built aquarium with an
automatic feeding system,
water circulation system
and LED lights to represent
day and night. Results
from this and subsequent
experiments have been
interesting. For humans
it takes at least ten days
for any space-related bone
symptoms to be revealed,
but the medaka started
losing bone density almost
immediately when they
arrived in orbit. Scientists
hope these experiments
will shed light on the
processes that govern how
human bodies adapt to
space as well as give new
insights into bone-related
human diseases like
osteoporosis.
Perished
(^32)
cO
to
be
r
20
12
/^6
0 d
ays
Thelastthree
humans
tovisitthe
Moonwere
joinedbyfive
pocketmice
heldin
tinytubes
A student
conceived the
experiment
that saw two
orb-weaving
spiders
being sent
to SkyLab
© NASA
x3 Iamges © NASA
© JAXA