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Twenty Years of Rodent Spaceflight Research at Ames Research Center.  D. Reiss-Bubenheim1, M. Vasques1, P. Dumars2, and E. Hill2  1NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field CA, and 2Lockheed Martin Space Operations, Moffett Field, CA   Ames

Research Center (ARC) has been the lead NASA center for rodent space flight missions over the past twenty years.  These missions, also supported by several other NASA Centers, have included collaborations with international partners (i.e. Bion/Cosmos) and commercial organizations (i.e. BioServe).  ARC has led more than 20 missions on the shuttle (STS) and free-flyers, flying 5-48 rats and 8-18 mice per mission with a maximum of 186 rodents on one mission.  These animal experiments were conducted by Principal Investigators from around the world resulting in a wealth of scientific data in all areas of research from basic physiology to behavior.  Some examples of rodent missions are the National Institute of Health Rodent series (NIHR), commercial immunology (IMMUNE), and Fundamental Rodent Experiments Supporting Health (FRESH).  The two pieces of hardware used to fly the rodents have been the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) and the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM).  The RAHF was a rack mounted unit housed in the shuttle bay in the SpaceLab module.  It provided individual housing, food and water measurement and video.  Temperature and humidity were controlled and measured.  RAHF flew 4 times, but has now been decommissioned.  The AEMs are the size of one middeck locker, are primarily flown in the shuttle middeck and provide a group housing environment with food and water.  Temperature and humidity are measured but not controlled.  The AEMs have flown 20 times and are still in use today.

   NASA continues to fly rodent missions to answer critical scientific questions.  Current focus is on addressing critical risks associated with human exploration missions.  In support of exploration, a new piece of rodent flight hardware is under development.  The Advanced Animal Habitat, will provide group housing, environmental controls and monitoring and be compatible with the International Space Station centrifuge.