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NASA doesn't want to lose a human in space, so it designs hypercautious human space missions that cost alot, but what if we were to sent Chimpanzees in a Mars Direct Hab and land it on Mars. We could land the Hab just like we could land any other probe on Mars. The chimps would have to do little but breath, eat, and survive for the duration of the mission, and they would stay in the hab. I don't know of any way of encouraging them to get in a spacesuit when their are no humans around to encourage them. Eventually the Chimps are likely to die when their food and oxygen run out, but we can find out if they survive the journey to Mars in a Mars direct mission and see how much that costs. If the Chimps can make it, so would humans most likely. and instead of putting in excessive fail safes, we can just be reasonably cautious and balance safety considerations with lowering costs. if it fails then a chimp dies, still thats not as bad as when an astronaut dies.
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That would be inhumane. People would protest if they found out Chimps were sent out to die. I would be one of them.
Unless NASA gave a pension to the chimps clan.
"...all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by."
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I think we are well past the stage of using animals like monkeys or even dogs as "human test dummies".
If you're going to test using animals its cheaper to use either a facility like ISS or a ground based one if possible, and its more likely creatures like mice or perhaps specific creatures sensitive to key factors would be required.
The damn monekys are endangered enough as is...
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I think we are well past the stage of using animals like monkeys or even dogs as "human test dummies".
If you're going to test using animals its cheaper to use either a facility like ISS or a ground based one if possible, and its more likely creatures like mice or perhaps specific creatures sensitive to key factors would be required.
The damn monekys are endangered enough as is...
What about the 15 feet of water some scientists say we would need to protect astronauts from radiation? I think the only way to dispell all doubt is to send animals and see if they arrive alive, because otherwise they are going to say, the ISS isn't like interplanetary space where cosmic radiation is a "show stopper". If we send a monkey, we can findout whether we've prepared sufficiently or not. if the money dies, then we need more protection. If we assume the worst and weigh down the space vehicle with tons and tons of shielding, the mission may not happen, which is probably just what some of the space scientists want. Unless we send monkeys they are going to go on ranting and stirring things up perhaps causing us to spend more on the mission than we have too and running the project over budget until it is canceled.
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That is so unnecessary: To waste time and effort on so primitive an experiment "to see if they arrive alive" after a trip to Mars. Simply send your experimental monkeys up to GEO for the time required, if you must play play Dr. Morrow. Then you can bring the poor things back down in a capsule to see for yourself what your pathetic attempt at Victorian "science" has accomplished, without holding up the Mars Programme.
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