The always interesting crew at NASA Ames sent a bunch of mice up to the Space Station, watched their behavior in weightlessness and checked their health upon return to Earth.
They were observed behaving pretty much as mice do. They groomed themselves and each other, socialized with each other and appeared to be in good health when they returned to Earth. They hadn't lost weight and their coats were in good shape.
They quickly learned to launch themselves towards where they were going and used their momentum to get there. They would anchor themselves with their tails or hind limbs so they didn't float around when they didn't want to. So all in all, they adapted to weightlessness very well.
One interesting new mouse behavior was observed in weightlessness that hasn't been observed on Earth. The biologists call it "racetracking". The mice would group together and run around the perimeter of their enclosure like it was a big hamster wheel. They don't think that it was a response to stress, since the mice didn't show other physiological indications of stress. They aren't sure why the mice were doing it. Maybe the mice just thought that it was fun.
Watch the NASA video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...yCHUtHZZ0E
Read the description here:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/studyi...crogravity
They were observed behaving pretty much as mice do. They groomed themselves and each other, socialized with each other and appeared to be in good health when they returned to Earth. They hadn't lost weight and their coats were in good shape.
They quickly learned to launch themselves towards where they were going and used their momentum to get there. They would anchor themselves with their tails or hind limbs so they didn't float around when they didn't want to. So all in all, they adapted to weightlessness very well.
One interesting new mouse behavior was observed in weightlessness that hasn't been observed on Earth. The biologists call it "racetracking". The mice would group together and run around the perimeter of their enclosure like it was a big hamster wheel. They don't think that it was a response to stress, since the mice didn't show other physiological indications of stress. They aren't sure why the mice were doing it. Maybe the mice just thought that it was fun.
Watch the NASA video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...yCHUtHZZ0E
Read the description here:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/studyi...crogravity