Russians to Send Monkeys to Mars

By Alex in Animals & Pets, Science & Tech on Apr 14, 2008 at 6:51 pm

Remember Laika the dogmonaut .. er, Russian space dog? Well, if the Russians have their way, more animals are on their way to outer space. Here’s their plan of sending monkeys to Mars:

They won’t utter Yuri Gagarin’s famous phrase "Let’s go!" But the monkeys of Sochi have already proven their worth as trailblazers in space – and now they are being groomed for a trip to Mars.

The macaques will be the first to experience the radiation that poses a big risk to astronauts – or Russian cosmonauts – on any flight to the Red Planet.

Link – Thanks casey!

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jessleigh
Apr 14th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
In modern times, isn’t there a better way to test these problems, without using monkeys? I know there is a need, but it seems very cruel and unusual.
Alannah
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
“space scientists want to see how the monkeys react to prolonged weightless conditions, isolation and a special diet of juices and pureed food.”

Flying fecal matter. They’re just asking for it.
Parker
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Lesson: Russians do whatever crazy shit they want because in Russia there’s no way PETA would be able to even advertise on their own bodies..they’d be owned by the government.
bean
Apr 14th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
It’s like they didn’t watch Planet of the Apes at all.
windowshoppist
Apr 15th, 2008 at 12:13 am
This is just depressing. Surely they could send living cell cultures or plants or something if we want to test radiation damage.
DanO
Apr 15th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Animal testing is here to stay folks, get used to it.
empty-minded
Apr 15th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Look at it from the Martian’s point of view: An invasion of Mars by radiation induced mutated monkeys. The only good news is that the monkeys will be so weak from bone and muscle mass loss that they won’t be able to throw their own poo at anyone.
Als
Apr 15th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Does lol-ing at a mental image of macaques running around mars in little helmets make me a bad person?
CheeseDuck
Apr 15th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Holy crap. What if monkeys colonized Mars? Now this I want to see.
Gorf
Apr 15th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Speaking of space-sent animals, just a few days ago the Russians unveiled a monument to cute poor astro-dog Laika!
http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2008/04/russia-re member.html
Jerse
Apr 15th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Why can’t we send something cool instead of a monkey. Why not, like, a baby elephant? Or an eagle? There should definitely be more space-eagles…
JakeTheSnake
Apr 16th, 2008 at 1:17 am
monkeys in space…. why is that so funny
JakeTheSnake
Apr 16th, 2008 at 1:17 am
images of the old cartoon “Dial M for Monkey” keep poping up in my head haha
JakeTheSnake
Apr 16th, 2008 at 1:18 am
sorry about 3 posts in a row but does anyone notice the google ads on the top of some of these pages, apparently I can buy a spider monkey through google

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