QUESTION:
Why not send a monkey into space?
 

ANSWER from James F. McGuire on January 12, 1998:
 There are currently no facilities available for accommodating
monkeys on Neurolab.


ANSWER from Kenneth Souza on January 14, 1998:
If you mean, why use rats instead of monkeys, the answer is that the
scientists who posed the particular questions being studied concluded that
they could get answers to their questions using rats and mice.  Scientists
are required by law to use the simplest species possible to get their
answers, e.g. use bacteria rather than frogs rather than rats rather than
monkeys.  Humans are used if they are the appropriate species but in many
cases humans cannot be used for probing the function  and mechanisms of
some organs like the brain.  Also, please note that advantages of rodents
over humans include such things as an ability to control the animals diet,
light/dark cycle; minimal genetic variation, larger number of specimens.
These features enable scientists in many cases to design better experiments
using rodents than with humans and to generate the most statistically
significant data

If you mean, why not use monkeys instead of humans, the answer is much the
same as above.  Scientists propose experiments to NASA using the species
they feel best suits their scientific objectives.  NASA reviews the
propsals for scientific merit and for the appropriateness of the proposed
number and type of biological specimen.  Only proposals that have passed
such review are considered for funding.


Answer from Jeff Smith on January 18, 1998
Monkeys would be a great animal system to study the effects of
weightlessness on the brain. Unfortunately, the Neurolab mission doesn't
have any space to house monkeys. They take up a lot more space and require
more care than crickets, fish and rats.