NationStates Jolt Archive

....admittedly not with our species, though:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304744,00.html
Head Scientist Dmitry Atyakshin said "The first generation of cosmic cockroaches consists of 33 babies.

"They are beautiful. Seeing how they eat, drink and move I can understand that they are feeling very well."

Hope, the cockroach, conceived onboard the Foton-M satellite last month.
...
They were filmed throughout the 12-day experiment.
Truly, a womb with a view!

But no, the Russians weren't keeping it to a species that would surpass us after the fallout, but were also working on an Ark concept?:
Hope was not alone in space - mice, butterflies, lizards and snails were also onboard the spacecraft.

So are we kickin' the space race up a notch or what?

In Soviet Space, 33 babies has cockroach!

Truly, a womb with a view!
Gah! THE PAIN!
But no, the Russians weren't keeping it to a species that would surpass us after the fallout, but were also working on an Ark concept?:

So are we kickin' the space race up a notch or what?
Hope so. Might lead to New And Interesting Things. Space slugs which can survive in a vacuum and have laser eyes to kill predators and suchlike. Cockroaches which are 8ft long, 4 tall and can stop our landfill crisis (albeit at a Terribly Disgusting Cost).

Fun times ahoy, methinks.

I love that they spent so much money on something as inane as breeding space cockroaches. I hope that this won't goad Congress into engaging in another wasteful spend-a-thon in space. (Then again, they probably have nothing better to do.)

I for one welcome our new space cockroach masters.

yeah the Russians intended to have cockroaches all over there spacecraft :rolleyes:

OMG! Roach infestation in the space station!

Call the exterminator!

Seriously, I don't like roaches, especially flying roaches... and in space, they will be floating, right at you!

I love that they spent so much money on something as inane as breeding space cockroaches. I hope that this won't goad Congress into engaging in another wasteful spend-a-thon in space. (Then again, they probably have nothing better to do.)
You know, there's a new study in Scientific American that was covering radiation research for possible flights to Mars, and the current info says it's feasible ...

Radiation Redux
NASA has worried that cosmic rays could undermine a human voyage to Mars. New simulations and calculations, though, suggest that such lengthy exposure to space radiation may pose only half the health risk that NASA had expected.

The best U.S. space radiation simulations take place at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Booster accelerator, where a facility for space research opened in 2003. The device sends beams of protons, iron and other cosmic elements down a 100-meter-long tunnel to strike human cells, mice and rats. Biologists then assess DNA damage. The Booster has enabled NASA to conduct regular, more realistic experiments beyond the one-week-a-year timetable of the past.

One interesting preliminary finding, according to Brook-haven radiobiologist Betsy Sutherland, is that the lower a proton’s energy, the more damage it does. Apparently, lower-energy protons, which travel more slowly, have more time to interact with tissues. In lowering its assessment of risk, NASA also factored in astronauts’ better-than-average health and switched from “whole-body” radiosensitivity to organ-by-organ measurements, where new studies have found lower risks for lungs, breasts and the blood system.

Such analyses, if they prove correct, could mean that Mars mission astronauts might not need radioprotective drugs at all, says Francis Cucinotta, NASA’s chief scientist for human radiation research. For solar storms and other acute risks, he adds, “we might want to carry them just in case.” Possible drugs include retinoids—vitamins that work as antioxidants—and compounds that delay cell division long enough for damaged cells to repair themselves before they can propagate mutations.
—John Dudley Miller

I for one welcome our new space cockroach masters.

You would.
http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_hoppers/images/wpe2.jpg
"Kiss my rings."