NORFOLK, Virginia - NASA was all set to launch a little astronaut hamster into space to study the effects of space travel on its digestive system but it has been put on hold.
Mimosa Ledbetter, executive director with PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has filed a temporary restraining order.
Mrs. Ledbetter stated that a veterinarian who is employed by PETA stated that hamsters do not like to travel into space and especially when confined in a small area.
Scientific expert Dr. Addison Zigwalt noted that back in 2004, NASA sent a female hamster into space and when she returned it was determined that she had become sterile.
The female hamster was bred with about 14 different male hamsters and she never got pregnant.
The hamster named Lulu also became an introvert and refused to eat eventually becoming anorexic.
Lulu was eventually cured thanks to an Air Force physician Dr. B.B. Bellrinski of Little Rock, Arkansas.
