It would appear that the Germany Space Program is lagging just a few decades behind the rest of the world in space exploration. In the early 1960's, the United States and the defunct power of the U.S.S.R. commenced their race into space. The early test shots used a variety of test animals to determine the the effects of space travel, these included a dog from the U.S.S.R. and a monkey from the United States. Evidently, none of the information gained from these test runs was shared with the rest of the world. Germany, has now entered the "space race". This country is either starting out with the basics or they have learned from the United States that "grant money" can be obtained for worthless projects.

A recent article happened to catch my eye the other day while cruising through the daily news of the world. The article is dated 2/17/08: "Seventy-two small fish were briefly launched into space by researchers on Thursday, hoping their swimming patterns would shed light on motion sickness.


German researchers sent the Cichlids on a ten-minute rocket ride that blasted off from a launch pad in northern Sweden, said Professor Reinhold Hilbig, who was in charge of the project." "They were happy, I think they want to have another flight, he said."

"The thumbnail-size fish were filmed as they swam around weightlessly in small aquariums during the unmanned space flight. The German team will now study the video to see if some of the fish swam in circles because that is what fish do when they experience motion sickness, said Hilbig, of the Zoological Institute at the University of Stuttgart."


"He said scientists hope the experiment can help explain why some people experience motion sickness while others do not. The mechanisms involved are similar for both fish and humans." "Hilbig said the fish landed safely and appeared to be in good condition. Cichlids were picked for the experiment because they are sturdy fish who were deemed to have good chances to survive the stress of space flight" "Goldfish are a little bit fat and messy, while the Cichlid fish is a well trained, sporty fish with muscles", he said"


Not being a person with a great deal of scientific knowledge, I wonder why "Flying Fish" were not used for this project. I have seen schools of these fish in every ocean in the world, flying above the waves and not one time did I eve see one using a "barf bag". Not being a fish biologist, but a very ardent sport fishermen I was happy to learn about the Cichlid specie and that it was a "sporty well muscled fish", I am going to put it on my "bucket list" as a specie I want to catch, it should rank right there with a Black Marlin or Tarpon. From what I gathered from this article, if it proves out that "space travel" had no effect on the Cichlid in regards to motion sickness it may prove to be beneficial. If you are one or have children that are susceptible to motion sickness when traveling, all you will need to do is swallow a couple of Cichlid's followed by several glasses of water to insure they are total submerged and you are safe to go. If you want to learn more about things that blow up or the behavioral patterns of fish, you may want to visit this site.