Mouse Drawer System (MDS): An automated payload for supporting rodent research on the international space station

Mice represent one of the most important animal models for biomedical research. For the scientific community, the ability of flying mice under weightless conditions in space offers many valuable advantages respect to other rodents. These advantages includes the option of testing a wide range of transgenic animals, the ability to increase the number of animals that can be flown, and reduced demands on shuttle resources (food, water, mass and air refreshment) and crew time (for water refill). In this study, we report the biocompatibility tests of the first European automated rodent spaceflight payload, the Mouse Drawer System (MDS), which is compatible to the configuration of space shuttle middeck and space station freedom express rack. Six mice were housed individually inside the MDS engineering model for 20 and 100 days. All mice survived, lost weight after the 20-day test, but gained weight after the 100-day test. No abnormality was detected by haematological analysis, or by necropsy. These tests showed that the payload meets NIH guideline for temperature, humidity, food and water access, air quality, odor and waste management; mechanical and electronic components of MDS can support animal experiments for at least 100 days. The payload is now ready to take off in the upcoming MDS space mission.