Rats on the ISS! NASA Actually Wants Them There

Later this year, rats could be scampering around the International Space Station (ISS). However, to the likely relief of the station's crew, there will be no need to call in the exterminators. NASA astronauts plan to play host for a group of test rodents for up to three months in an attempt at better understanding how long-term micro-gravity life can impact animal health.

Of course, rodents have flown in various spacecrafts in the past. However, this will be the first time that test rats will be left on the ISS for nearly as long as most astronaut missions.

To avoid an unintentional rat infestation, complete with floating rodents getting everywhere they are not supposed to, NASA is starting to implement changes to standard animal husbandry tactics.

"This will allow animals to be studied for longer period of time on space station missions," Julie Robinson, NASA's chief scientist for the space station, said in a recent press conference, according to Space.com.

So why rats? Robinson told media outlets that while mice are easier to manage and require less food, rats are preferable test subjects because their neurocognitive systems function in a way that is more similar to humans.

NASA has also been working on a new Rodent Habitat module - the living quarters for these intrepid rodents - that was first introduced back in May.

The model was designed in a collaboration between space agency's Rodent Research Facility and Ames Research Center, and will both safely carry the rats up to the ISS and serve as a temporary home for their extended stay in a microgravity environment.

NASA reports that it humans will spend up to two years on the ISS in the future in preparation for the journey to Mars, which is expected to take just as long. As rats develop faster than humans, the effect microgravity has on them can have important implications for these future missions.

Ultimately, NASA plans to use the new rodent research system to conduct studies as long as half a year in duration. Because six months is approximately one-fourth to one-third of a rodent's lifespan, "studies on these rodents in space have the potential to extrapolate important implications for humans living in space well beyond six months," according to a National Research Council report.