Before man goes to Mars, mice will go to lava caves. And Central Oregon this weekend will host two pioneer rodents in what could become one giant step toward space exploration.

For 48 hours, two female mice, Chevy and Pontiac, will live in a ”life bubble” in Skylight Cave near Black Butte. The bubble could become the prototype of what will be used in the future when humans explore the galaxy.

Officially called a life support test bed, the bubble will house the mice and several trays of two plants: duckweed and water fern. The plants will convert the exhaled carbon dioxide from the mice into breathable oxygen, said Gus Frederick, one of the experiment’s organizers.

Funded by a grant from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, the experiment is part of a two-year effort to learn more about surveying caves, developing life support systems and creating mini-biospheres, he said.

A self-described space nut, Frederick said that if the mice can survive in their bubble for the weekend, it will ”add credibility” to the idea that scientists can sustain life in unlikely locations using closed systems with plants to keep the air and water clean.

This weekend, the mice’s unit will sit inside of the cave beneath one of three unique openings, and solar-powered battery cells will power lights for the bubble.

Frederick, of Salem, said that eventually similar modules may be used for human colonization on Mars, which has a volcanic environment. Enormous lava caves pock the planet’s surface, and if scientists can determine how to keep the gases within an enclosed system in balance, entire communities could survive on the inhospitable planet.

Still, it will be years before scientists make the leap from sustaining female mice in an Oregon cave to promoting lively communities on a faraway planet, he said.

For one, they must figure out what environmental stresses may occur, and develop ways to overcome that stress.

Frederick will only use female mice this weekend because he knows they won’t fight.

”Males will get aggressive and violent, and then they fight,” he said. ”We don’t have that problem with the female mice. One may become the dominant one and chew the whiskers off the other. But that’s not so bad.”

Hailing from pet stores in Salem, the mice are officially known as ”fancy mice,” he said.

Although this weekend’s event will be short-lived, it could have long-reaching consequences, Frederick said.

He hopes that it will add insight to the importance of lava tube caves in space travel. Those caves protect their interiors with thick, rock walls. Whereas the surface of Mars is enveloped by a very thin atmosphere that doesn’t protect anything from the high concentration of gases, the caves offer refuge, he said.

Also, Frederick plans to spend some of the weekend developing recipes for duckweed, the plant that will be nourishing the mice. So far he has come up with a form of duckweed pesto. With a taste like alfalfa, the nutritious plant could become standard fare for future space travel, he said.

Frederick said the experiment will be a success if the mice don’t require human intervention to keep their bubble cool or warm, more or less oxygenated.

”After this, on to Mars,” he said. ”This is kind of a kick off.”

Although he doesn’t expect space travel to become a reality in his lifetime, Frederick said he would ”absolutely jump at the chance to go to Mars.”

”I probably won’t live that long, but I have always said that if my great, great grandson can spread my ashes from Olympus Mons (Mars’s largest volcano), then I will be happy.”

Rachel Odell can be reached at 541-617-7811 or rodell@bendbulletin.com