Nasa has developed high-tech cages to carry rodents from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS) to allow researchers to study the long-term effects of microgravity on mammalian physiology.
The Rodent Habitat modules will first fly in August aboard an unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.
Developed at Nasa’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, the new habitats are designed for transporting the animals to the space station and as part of their long-term accommodation.
They consist of a transport module, which fits inside the racks in the pressurized cargo section of the Dragon spacecraft, and an access module for moving the rodents from the transporter to the station’s rodent habitat without having the mice escape and take up residence behind the control panels.
