MARCUS is a lightweight, free-flying, artificial gravity spacecraft that can be launched into LEO as a secondary payload. It avoids the gravity gradients and Coriolis effects of spinning spacecraft by rotating two animal enclosure capsules on a smart electrodynamic tether several kilometers long. If the ends have a mass ratio of ～7:3, one capsule can experience lunar gravity and the other Martian gravity. Depending on life support requirements, the capsules could house several white mice for weeks or months. The smart tether controls the rotation rate and gravity, and also transfers the system into orbits closely duplicating radiation conditions on the Moon or Mars. The capsules can be released on command with the proper velocity and trajectory to cause controlled re-entries. Heat shields and parachutes can then be used to allow gentle mid-air helicopter recovery of the live animals, allowing direct comparison with control animals on the ground. The technology, spacecraft, and method of operation are described. MARCUS would allow filling in the data gap between 0-g and 1-g, which ground-based centrifuges cannot do. The robotic spacecraft could also be operated cheaply, without depending on the limited resources of the ISS.
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