Official News page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: FISH... IN... SPACE...

by Hazed

German scientists are sending some fish into space. 60 baby cichlid fish will be blasted 260km up aboard a two-stage rocket to see how they react to six minutes of weightlessness.

Fish, like many humans, suffer from motion sickness so recording how they react in zero-g conditions can help scientists - it's a lot easier to experiment on fish than people. Although fish, presumably, can't actually tell you how they are feeling.

When fish get motion sick, they tumble around, swim in circles and miss their balance. On this flight, some of the fish will be subjected to zero-g while others will enjoy the trip in a slowly-turning centrifuge. Their behavior will be filmed and later, experimenters will examine video footage of the fish in flight, and probe their "small balance organs" to see how they coped.

Fish have previously gone on parabolic plane rides - the so-called "vomit comet" that is used to train astronauts - but the 20-30 seconds of weightlessness these offer haven't been long enough for clear conclusions to be drawn.

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