Well...THIS PROVES IT!!!!
Or...maybe it doesn't. Either way...I'm running out of taffy and must do a laundry.
Mice, gerbils dead in 30-day Russian space ordeal; lizards live
LOS ANGELES—A crew of
Mongolian gerbils may have gone where no Mongolian gerbil has gone
before, but they did not come back alive. A Russian spacecraft filled
with mice, lizards and other animals has returned to Earth—but with the
majority of its furred passengers apparently dead.
The Bion-M experiment,
launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on April 19, carried 45 mice, 15
geckos, 18 Mongolian gerbils, 20 snails and a number of different
plants, seeds and microorganisms, according to a Russian state news
site.
About half of the mice
died, but the lizards reportedly survived. The Mongolian gerbils all
expired, apparently due to an equipment failure, said Vladimir Sychev of
the Russian Academy of Sciences, according to AFP.
The satellite was sent
into a near-Earth orbit 575 kilometres above Earth, far higher than the
International Space station. Lasting 30 days, the mission represented
the longest time that Russian animal astronauts had been sent into
space. A previous mission in 2007 lasted 12 days and only went up to
about 280 kilometres in altitude.
Perhaps ironically,
the ill-fated Mongolian gerbils were thought to have an advantage in
space, since the rodents live in harsh environments and can survive
without water for relatively long periods, according to an agency
release weeks before the launch. Half the mice were expected to die
during the journey, according to Sychev.
Although many of the animals died, they will still provide the researchers with valuable science: Each animal was numbered and implanted with a tiny microchip that would contain the “entire biography of the animal,” according to an agency web page.
Although many of the animals died, they will still provide the researchers with valuable science: Each animal was numbered and implanted with a tiny microchip that would contain the “entire biography of the animal,” according to an agency web page.
