[ROBERT]

"" MARS MICE by Karen Miller

In 2006 a group of mice-astronauts will orbit Earth inside a spinning spacecraft.
Their mission: to learn what its like to live on Mars.

The mice will be exposed to Mars-gravity for about five weeks. Then, says Wooster, they'll return to Earth alive and well. The mice will descend by parachute and land near Woomera, Australia, inside a small capsule reminiscent of NASA's old Apollo capsules.""

http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/mice.asp

[ROBERT]

Any resemblance to the "Clangers" is purely coincidental []
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/clangers/intro.shtml

[ROBERT]

It is a pity the mice-tronauts do not have an exercise wheel:
it could have been used as a back-up gyroscope.  []

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/040423-iss-gyroscope.htm

[neilep]

This is great Robert. Thank you for all your great links. It'll be fascinating to see gow the mice get on. I wonder if the mice have to go through extensive training !!...it's almost funny to say that but I bet there are certain procedures that they go through. I can't imagine them in a spacesuit in a big swimmingpool as i doubt they'll be doing a spacewalk but do you think they may have to undergo those centrifugal things ?

Chris..this would be a good topic for your radio show.

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[ROBERT]

"Huston, we have a problem, we've ran out of sunflower seeds". []

[ROBERT]

Some FAQs about the "mars mice" mission:-
http://www.marsgravity.org/main/faq.htm

Here is a NASA graph showing the effects of micro-gravity:-


""humans appear to lose bone mass continuously in microgravity, even with countermeasures applied.""
http://www.marsgravity.org/main/science.htm