Author Topic: Mascot (pets) on the ISS/space (Read 1082 times)

dunwich · « **on:** 05/20/2023 07:06 am »

Given early exploration vessels usually had some sort of pet on board was it ever considered to have a pet on the ISS?
Now having a cat or a dog as a permanent guest wouldn't have worked but something like hamster or even a guinea pig?

They take little volume and allow the study of the full lifecycle of a mammal. They where often involved in ships of exploration and where regarded fondly by the public in general.

Would it have taken to much space, to much care, in the way most of the time. Or would it have died horribly? Given that the first movie in space involved surgery in 0G. Having a medical issue with it sounds sort of okay.

What are some other reasons it would have been a bad idea?

eric z · « **Reply #1 on:** 05/22/2023 01:42 pm »

This is a fascinating subject, since i have had 21 cats in 49 years of marriage. [ Plus a dog!] The obvious issue is kitty-litter and weightlessness don't go together too well!

Once we get situated on the Moon or Mars the solutions should be much easier to deal with.

I am firmly convinced I would rather have my furry friends with me up there rather than Hal nagging me all the time!

JAFO · « **Reply #2 on:** 05/23/2023 01:46 am »

Like this?

"This is an older painting that I reworked in 2017. The idea behind it was that cats are cats, no matter where they are. So when we set out for the stars, we will no doubt take our pets, and cats being cats, if there are windows, there will be cats sitting in those windows.
-Keith Spangle
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/ships-cat-revised-keith-spangle.html

Jeff Lerner · « **Reply #3 on:** 05/23/2023 02:17 am »

Well., ya…

https://ca.startrek.com/article/porthos-bio

DaveS · « **Reply #4 on:** 05/23/2023 02:52 am »

A brief write up on felines in the final frontier: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/felicette-first-cat-space-finally-gets-memorial-180974062/

SweetWater · « **Reply #5 on:** 05/23/2023 02:55 am »

The ISS has hosted many animals as experimental subjects; I imagine that the attitude of astronauts towards these animals is similar to researchers using animal test subjects on Earth, and that they are respectful but detached as much as possible. Many of these animals are insects, which don't really lend themselves to being kept as pets, and for the astronauts there is probably no real opportunity to handle or 'play' with the experimental subjects like sailors might with a mascot or pet.

The largest animals I know of which have been to the ISS are mice, which are housed in the Rodent Research Hardware System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent_Research_Hardware_System.
Both NASA's page https://www.nasa.gov/ames/research/space-biosciences/rodent-research-hardware and Wikipedia seem like they could use some updating but there seem to have been at least 11 experiments flown with this system to date, with as many as 40 mice being flown at one time and many - but not all - being returned to Earth alive after the experiments were completed.

The Centrifuge Accommodation Module (CAM) https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/cam.htm for the ISS - had it ever been completed and launched - would have included a centrifuge to simulate rotational gravity environments for animals up to the size of mice and rats, and would have presumably allowed for long-term and possibly multi-generational (at least in rodent terms) studies of animals at fractional gravities.

While it probably would not have been a great fit for the ISS in the long run - even with vibration from the centrifuge dampened, it would have been an issue for microgravity experiments - I consider the CAM being canceled to be a serious missed opportunity for the ISS program and would love to see something similar in the future, perhaps on one of the commercial space stations or free-fliers that are being proposed for the 2030s.