PETA Members Converge on Wallops Island Over NASA's Planned Radiation Experiments

Tormenting Monkeys in Crude Tests Just Doesn't Fly, Says Group

For Immediate Release:
June 4, 2010

Contact:
Lauren Stroyeck 757-622-7382

Wallops Island, Va. -- Holding signs reading, "Stop Radiation Tests on Monkeys" and "No Tax $$ for Animal Abuse," PETA members--including one dressed in a space suit--will protest outside the 65th anniversary celebration of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The demonstration is being held in response to NASA's plan to waste $1.75 million to fund an experiment in which as many as 30 squirrel monkeys will be exposed to a harmful dose of space radiation. NASA then plans to subject the animals to years of additional experiments in order to observe how the radiation devastates their brains and bodies. Monkeys used in earlier radiation experiments have suffered from brain tumors, blindness, cognitive decline, and other debilitating conditions.

When:   Saturday, June 5, 12 noon

Where:  Security gate at Wallops Flight Facility, intersection of Cartlidge Drive and Mill Dam Road (Route 798), Wallops Island

"NASA's plan to fund experiments on monkeys should be permanently grounded," says PETA Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo. "Blasting these sensitive, social animals with radiation is as archaic as planning a trip to the moon in a Wright Brothers airplane. It’s pointless, wasteful and cruel."

Because of the biological differences between species and the fact that astronauts are exposed to low levels of radiation over extended periods of time--as opposed to the single large dose that the monkeys will be given in a matter of minutes--results of radiation experiments on monkeys cannot be reliably applied to humans. NASA could study humans who have been to space and also could rely on modern research methods, including the use of human tissue cultures and simulators that would yield results relevant to humans--something that animal experiments cannot do.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.