NASA Sends Butterflies, Caterpillars Into Space

[bogcotton]

[citation][nom]homrqt[/nom]What happened to the old school sending monkeys and dogs into space??[/citation]

Too similar to us I guess, nothing to see but some disorientation and muscle deterioration.

 

[ElectroGoofy]

Wake me up when the headline reads "NASA Sends Elephants, Hippopotami Into Space"

 

[anamaniac]

I want to see a butterfly trying to fly in zero gravity...

 

[papasmurf]

they should send President Obama into space, then throw him out the airlock without a space suit, nancy pelosi can be the control, they can shove her out with a space suit and let the oxygen run out.

It would get us valuable data that we need, it would stop trillions of dollars worth of government spending (paying for nasa to operate for at least a century) AND it would be fun!

 

[lifelesspoet]

"Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high, take a look, its in a book, its reading rainbow."
Sorry guys, couldn't resist.

 

[kingssman]

Personally, I like this kind of experiment. The biggest drawback of space faring is the inability to produce resources while in space. Butterflies are good pollination insects and seeing how natural wildlife adapts to 0 gravity "at birth" is peak for scientific interests. After all, imagine what a 0 gravity or ultra low gravity organism may actually look like or function. Especially considering for some reason Dinosaurs were friggen HUGE considering they evolved under Earth Gravity.

 

[belardo]

The Dinosaurs were HUGE because there was FAR more oxygen in our atmosphere.

 

[bachok83]

This is a very good experiment. However, I pity the butterflies... they must have freaked out.. OMG.. where's the gravity Oh NOOO...

Humans on the other hand, can figure out (well, maybe for some.. haha..) on what's happening.. How would butterflies make sense of what's happening to their flight.. hehe..

 

[Hiniberus]

[citation][nom]Belardo[/nom]The Dinosaurs were HUGE because there was FAR more oxygen in our atmosphere.[/citation]

Well size is mostly dependend on the abundence of food as well, crocs a few million years ago were pretty damn large, because of the excess food supply.

Less food = become smaller (In size or population) or die out

 

[snurp85]

[citation][nom]Niva[/nom]They don't do well in zero G. Many plants can't survive in space either though putting plants in a centrifuge helps. Can you imagine if you're a plant and you don't know which way your roots are supposed to grow due to the absence of gravity, that would suxor![/citation]

Gravity has nothing to do with root development. They have been growing plants and carrying out experiment in space for years. Thats part of what they research up there. I think this butterfly experiment is great. Its a great learning experience and despite what people above are saying it is not costing a ton of money because the butterflies are negligible payload and they were going to be going to the ISS anyway. Its not like they made a special visit to the ISS just to bring the butterflies.