Russian mice, gerbils dead in 30-day space ordeal; lizards live
By Amina Khan of the L.A. Times
May 20, 2013, 7:27 p.m.
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 (died), 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 some 357 miles 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 174 miles 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.
Russia Animal Testing Homework
Directions: Read the article. Then, after reading, follow the activities below. Please answer any questions using complete sentences.
Part One: Key Vocabulary
-Altitude: height, usually referring to height in the air.
-Satellite: an object sent to space and orbits the earth.
-Orbit: to circle the Earth.
Your Key Words
1) Find two new key vocabulary words in this article and define the word in the space below:
a) ______
b) ______
2) In one sentence, summarize the purpose of the article.
Part Two: True/False Statements: For the statements below, identify if the statement is true or false. Make sure to write the sentence out of the text that supports your decision. An example is given below.
Example: Listeria bacteria causes the disease listeriosis.
Answer: True. The article states, “Listeria monocytogenes bacteria cause a disease called listeriosis.”
3) The Russians noticed that three quarters of the mice died when returned to Earth.
4) The mission lasted thirty days.
5) Each animal contained a microchip that decribed the history of the animal.
6) 45 mice and 40 gerbils were upon the spacecraft.
Part Three: Anaysis Questions: Answer using complete sentences.
7) Why was this Russian space mission significant to the scientific community? Explain.
Opinion:
8) Do you agree with animal testing for scientific purposes? Why/why not?