Sensorimotor investigations for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite: a rotating spacecraft for partial gravity research.

The Mars Gravity Biosatellite will offer investigators a unique environment for sensorimotor research. Fifteen mice will fly for 5 weeks in low Earth orbit before being returned safely to the ground. Chronic 35-rpm rotation will produce artificial gravity equal to that on the surface of Mars (0.38 g). This groundbreaking flight will be the longest rodent spaceflight investigation and the first to explore the effects of accelerations between weightlessness and Earth's 1 g.