'Space Fish' to be Sent to China Space Station to Study Interaction with Other Microorganisms

A fish is being planned to be sent into space as part of a study to determine how the marine animals will interact with other microorganisms in a small and closed ecosystem, according to reports earlier this week.

The Chinese government is considering sending zebrafish to its Tiangong space station, for reasons also to determine the science behind bone density loss in a zero-gravity environment.

The space fish in the China space station will allow scientists to further understand how animals behave and survive in the harsh environment of space, which can also help astronomers and future human space travelers.

The idea of "fish in space" is not new and the zebrafish set to be launched into the station is only one of the few animals sent into space in previous decades.

Fish in Space

The first fish sent to space involved a group of mummichogs, a small fish found in the Atlantic Ocean, in 1973 to Earth's first orbiting science lab called Skylab.

Decades, later Japan also studied a small school of medaka fish abord the International Space States and the effects of microgravity to them, the website Newsbeezer.com reported.

According to Zhang Wei, an official from China's manned space program, the zebrafish as vertebrates will be used to study bone loss amongst astronauts inside the Tiangong space station, according to the local media outlet ECNS.

Why Are Animals Sent to Space?

Now, with the recent developments about the space fish, the question arises why do we send animals to space?

In its fundamental reasons when it started in the 1940s, the act of sending them outside our planet is to determine the survivability of a living organism and the potential for humans to be sent to space as well, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.

Although the United States and Russian governments initially reported of sending the first astronauts into space since the 1960s, other scientific questions have emerged relating to the matter in the succeeding decades.

Some of these inquiries include space radiation, as well as the psychological and biological impacts of prolonged exposure in space.

Aside from fish, below are some of the animal groups sent into space:

• Monkeys
• Apes
• Dogs
• Felicite (the first space cat)
• Guinea pigs
• Frogs
• Wasps
• Beetles

The Space Environment

As mentioned earlier, space is a harsh environment since it lacks the necessary environmental conditions found on Earth, such as the presence of oxygen and our atmosphere, as well as tolerable temperatures for living organism to breathe, function, and ultimately survive.

With this, space affects animals in the same way it affects humans.

For instance, our early space travel saw the detrimental impact of space radiation on organic matter, especially when outside Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, the Royals Museum added.

Since animals were the initial pioneers of space flights, most have lost their lives, according to the BBC Wildlife Magazine.