 A number of mice and eight gerbils sent into space in a Russian capsule destined to find out how well organisms can withstand extended flights perished during their journey, scientists said Sunday as the month-long mission touched back down on Earth.  A Russian capsule carrying mice, lizards and other small animals returned to Earth on Sunday after spending a month in space for what scientists said was the longest experiment of its kind. Sychov said this was to be expected and the surviving mice were sufficient to complete the study, which was designed to show the effects of weightlessness and other factors of space flight on cell structure. The animals on board the Bion-M craft died because of equipment failure or due to the stresses of space, scientists said. The experiment, conducted 357 miles above Earth, was crafted to focus on the effects of microgravity on the skeletal and nervous systems as well as organisms’ muscles and hearts. Scientists from both countries said the animals were used as it was impossible to conduct the experiment on the humans who are currently operating the International Space Station (ISS). The space adventure has been widely praised by Russian state media as a unique experiment that no other country has yet pulled off. The mission lasted upwards of one month, longer than the 12 days Russian mice were exposed space in 2007. France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) space centre said 15 of the 45 mice came from a French research lab that is cooperating with the study. CNES said the creatures used in the experiment made it impossible to use the ISS, which could have posed a risk to astronauts. But at the end of the experiment, "less than half of the mice made it—but that was to be expected," Sychov told Russian news agencies. Russia has long set its sights on Mars and is now targeting 2030 as the year in which it could begin creating a base on the Moon for flights to the Red Planet. Russian state television showed the round Bion-M capsule and some of the surviving mice after it landed slightly off course but safely in a planted field near Orenburg, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) southeast of Moscow.
– The first Russian critter on Mars likely won't be a mouse, if the results of a month-long "space ark" mission are anything to go by. A capsule containing 45 mice, along with eight gerbils, 15 newts, crayfish, snails, and other small animals, landed yesterday with more than half the mice and all of the gerbils dead after a month spent 357 miles above the Earth, the AP reports. The fate of the newts is a bit unclear, with the AP reporting that all 15 "lizards" survived, and Space Reporter noting most newts died. The deaths weren't all due to the ravages of space; some were the result of equipment failure, scientists tell PhysOrg. "This is the first time that animals have been put in space on their own for so long," a researcher says, adding that despite the casualties, enough of the rodents survived for the study into the effects of weightlessness on cell structure to be completed. The animal test is expected to provide scientists with vital information on how humans might fare on a voyage to Mars.