Russia to send monkey on space mission to Mars

After sending monkeys to space for many years, the Russian government has made the decision to send a monkey on a space mission to Mars.

A space mission to Mars has been cited as risky for humans since the idea was introduced many years ago but now Russia is preparing to send a monkey for a space mission to the red planet, according to Press TV. For over two decades, monkeys have been sent to space on missions by Russia. Part of the mission is for the monkey to experience radiation that poses a risk to astronauts. The Director of an institute that supplies monkeys to Russia for space flights is currently in talks with Russia’s Cosmonautics Academy over supplying different kinds of animals for simulated mars mission. The monkey would expect to take a trip to Mars for 520 days, while a robot would accompany the monkey to feed him and clean up after him. Prior to the mission, the agency’s focus is on the monkey cooperating with the robot. Technicians believe it’s not a difficult task, reports AFP, but the hardest part will be teaching the monkey to live with the robot because one space flight in 1987 saw Yerosha, the institute’s best-known ape, begin to fiddle with buttons and tear sensors of the robot’s body. Zurab Mikvabia, director of the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy, which supplied apes for the Soviet Union's space program in the 1980s, said, “We have plans to return to space. Given the length of the flight to Mars, and given the cosmic rays for which we don't have adequate protection over such a long trip, discussions have focused recently on sending an ape instead of a person.”