I can hardly type this without thinking of the Muppets’ ‘Pigs in Space’. Whilst writing about space debris recently, and preparing to do a talk on the subject of stuff that we’ve put into space, I got to once again thinking about those frogs that NASA put into space in 1970 (for which this very blog is named).
How many other animals have been put into space and why? Looking into the subject, it’s quite entertaining. so here’s my top ten list of animals sent into space:
10. Flies
In 1942 the first animals were put into space. they were ironically flies. Fruit flies and corn seeds took a one way trip on a US V2 rocket, (you know the ones they built using Nazi technology and slaves).
9. Dogs
On November 3rd, 1957 the first animal in orbit was Laika, the Russian space dog. She flew aboard Sputnik 2 and died during the flight. The Soviets flew 10 more dogs on that programme until April 12, 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first man in orbit.
Belka and Strelka (seriously, who named these dogs?) were the first mammals to be successfully returned to the Earth after orbital flight in 1960. you can them in the picture. The other canine record holders are Veterok and Ugolyok, two dogs that spent 22 days in space before returning unharmed in 1966.
Strelka’s puppy, Pushinka was given as a present to the Kennedys and many of her descendants are known still today.
8. Fish
Several fish have visited space. specifically the species Mummichog, Japanese Killfish and Zebra Danio. The Killfish were in fact the only survivors of the Columbia distaster.
More than anything I was simply pleased to find out there is an animal called a Mummichog.
7. Spiders
Experimenting with low gravity environments is obviously a big reason behind putting animals in space. So can a spider build a web in orbit? The answer is yes. Anita and Arabella were two garden spiders that flew on SkyLab in 1973.
The webs were seen to be finer that on Earth and to have variations in thickness throughout each web, unlike the highly uniform webs spun on Earth. Anit’s remains are still kept in a jar at the Smithsonian for all to see. You can see her web above.
6. Cats
Two cats have graced the skies, both put there by the French. The first was Felix in 1963, who survived his trip despite having electrodes implanted into his brain. The second cat’s name does not seem to be obvious, but he did not survive. I can has spacesuit?
5. Newts
In 1985, the Russians sent 10 newts into space after amputating their forearms. They were trying to study the regeneration of cells in low-gravity.
4. Mice and Rats
Many mice have been into space. The US reportedly put loads of them up there in the 1950s, but only the first one survived. In the 1960s, China, the USA and Russia all put many mice into space and into orbit. Nothing much seems to have come of this so far as popular culture is concerned. Douglas Adams, may have had other things to say about that though.
Russia flew rats and mice, as well as hordes of other animals, during its Bion programs in the 60s and 70s. Bion spacecraft (shown above) were designed to test organisms in space. As you can see they look very comfortable. If only NASA had made them, they would have at least had cupholders.
3. Frogs
My favourite space dwellers are the Orbiting Frogs that were sent up in 1970. Why? Well of course it was to sudy motion sickness in space. Don’t you know that frogs get carsick?
The Orbiting Frog Otolith housed the bullfrogs for a week as they circled the Earth. Scientists measured their vital signs and once the experiment was over the simply left the frogs to work it out for themselves. Needless to say it pleases and disturbs me greatly that there are possibly still two frogs up there somewhere.
Also, Toyohiro Akiyama, a Japanese journalist, carried a tree frog with him on a visit to Mir in 1990.
2. Tortoises
The tortoise is held in my esteem on this blog entry because it is the unlikely holder of not one, but two space records! In 1968 a Russian Tortoise became the first animal to go into deep space when it orbited the Moon and returned safely to the Earth.
There must be something about Tortoises that Russian space scientists like (or dislike) because a Tortoise also hold the record for longest flight time in orbit. In 1976 two tortoise and a fish spent 90.5 days in orbit on Salyut 5. They were never recovered and the craft burned up during re-entry in 1977.
1. Monkeys
Of course I had to end with monkeys. On June 11th, 1948 a monkey named Albert was the first to be put into space by NASA the Americans. He was under anesthetic during the launch and never returned. Many other monkeys have famously been put into space.
In 1959, Able and Baker, a rhesus and squirrel monkey respectively, were the first to survive spaceflight. It sounds like the premise of a Warner Brothers’ cartoon. They were placed in the nosecone of a missile and shot nearly 400 hundred miles above the surface of the Earth and over a distance of 1,700 miles. They travelled at 100,000 mph for 16 minutes. Needless to say they experience G-forces above and beyond anything normal (Wikipedia says 16g).
Able died a few days later from complications related to one of his implanted electrodes, but Baker lived until 1984 in the NASA Spaceflight centre in Huntsville, Alabama, possibly running the place.
In 1961, Ham the Chimp was launched into orbit. He was been trained to operate his craft (seriously, Warner Bros again?). He survived and lived a life of luxury afterwards. He appeared many times on television and even starred in a film with Evel Knievel!
17 more monkeys and chimps were flown in the years that followed, by the US, Russia and France, including two that went up on one of the first space shuttle missions.
I would like to end on the tragic is the story of Gordo. A young squirrel monkey from South America, Gordo also flew in the nosecone of a missile. In fact he paved the way for Able and Baker to do so more successfully a year later. He rocketed upward and survived the 10g launch, to the delight of NASA supervisors. However, during the 100,000 mph re-entry, whilst experiencing a whopping 40g, Gordo’s parachute failed to deploy. The squirrel monkey, sealed in the nosecone, sonicly-boomed into the ocean, more than a 1000 miles from Florida. He has never been recovered.
cheers a very interesting little read.
i love how those animals got in space i dont belive it are they still alive and did they wear space outfits
The fruit flies were launched in 1947 (after WW2 obviously) by the US Air Force with a V2 rocket (and by rocket scientists) obtained from the Nazis, a year before the launch of Albert. NASA was formed only after the launch of Sputnik, in 1958 I think. By then the Redstone rocket (an evolution of the V2) was the usual launch vehicle.
Thank you! I never hear anyone ever mention the dogs who where sent to space. I was begining to think I must have imagined it. And I know I never heard of a
CAT being in space.
I was only 10 when this was going on and my family would never asnwer my questions or have discussions about this or anything else. A lot of of basic belief at that time was “God does not want us up there!” My parents only contributuion to my question of why not was this… They think that is where heaven is. Up there! I also asked questions about what is a spy and what is an execution. I was told to go out and play. So I began to read the newspaper at an early age. I am an old lady (biddy!) now but I remember it well. You brought back many memories! There is another real goodie but I have talked too much already. Good Luck with your studies
Forgot to say… Your records/info is wrong. Dogs went up in the early 1950’s.
Actually, the U.S. (and British and Soviet etc.) V2 tests were done well after the end of the war after which captured missiles were shipped over to, well, most of the significant victor countries. I would guess 1946 or ‘47. The V2 started testing in 1942 but until the latter half of 1945 I would assume scientific experiments weren’t top priority.
I think most early animals in space got there (and back down) in a V2.
I question some of your information. How did NASA put a monkey into space in 1948 when NASA did not exist until 1958? All the US space endeavors before then were by the military.
Further, how did the US launch a V2 rocket in 1942? von Braun and company didn’t come to the US until the end of the war in 1945 (along with their rocket technology).
Sorry but after reading the first bit of your article i got very unsatisfied. Belka and Strelka are obviously Russian names or so.. and you should seriously read the article after you write it .. First few animals in space also died with very painful death .. Also never heard of flies flying into space in a rocket in 1942 ..
Also your pictures are very shitty and overall this is a disappointment . ( I never wrote something like this in comments so You Author should seriously start reading some books and stop stealing stuff from other sites etc.)
Dear M, maybe you should simply not read my blog. The pictures are not ’shitty’. Normally I would not engage trolling like this, but you’re comment irritated me, mainly because it is hilariously ridden with poor language and grammar.
The content of this page is not stolen from other sites! It comes in part from two books I have at home, Wikipedia and some people I know. I don’t pretend to be a journalist – this is just a blog after all.
ilove space dogs. my name is bobby. can i come to space with the funny monkey in a suit
Thats horrible
booby why would you want to go into space with a monkey. mabye a panada bear
We thought it was very interestiing read and it entertained us very much *snort* *snort*. *Pushes glasses up nose* We hope you post more funny things!!!
He he he he he he
pease man
yer dude we found it very mean to the animals like. casue they are the world and environemnt man. we hope you stop this now while we are here.
save the world
woooooooop
What made you want to study animals in space
OMG! Hamthe Chimp is so awesome! Do you know if he lived?
Nice article-I remember going to the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL and seeing Miss Baker when I was a kid. I thought that was so awesome.
Hippie man is right. Even though it is cool, we shouldn’t launch animals into space. Save the world, man! <3
Found your site very interesting, full of informative articles, added to my favourites.
why just why do you do this to the poor animals?
AWE!! i loaf the pics of the monkey and frog and doggy’s!!! I HATE THE SPIDER!! ahh… well bye now.
The frog is tight
You missed out Steve the amazing NASA cat on Mars!
dude, the poor frogs, they’re sooo cute!!! i can’t believe the would do something like that!!!!
peace!!!!! [] []
————
/
FROG /
dont worry
be happy
dont worry, be happy now.
hi. im bob marley. all of you hippie men out there should not worry about these animals. they do die up there sometimes, but not all the time. instead of looking towards the dead ones, look towards the live ones and see what they have accomplished. i hope all you people shall read this and look at these things from a different perspective. i hope i helped you worried hippies of the world.
In Russian Belka means Squirrel and Strelka means arrow (or shooting arrow) also it rhymes, also Veterok means wind.
But over all the article is good.
Nice article; however, two errors that I feel should be pointed out here:
1.) Killfish did not survive the Columbia disaster. Nematodes from a different experiment were the only thing found alive in the debris.
2.) The Redstone rocket (which carried Able and Baker) was not capable of reaching 100,000 mph, or even anything close. The Earth’s escape velocity is barely a quarter of that speed, so if they had gone that fast they never would have come back. No rocket has ever re-entered Earth’s atmosphere above 24,800 miles per hour (Apollo 10 holds that record), and the Redstone SUB-orbital lob shots were much slower than that. Please double-check your facts before throwing out numbers.
The first monkey in space was Albert II, not just Albert, just so you know.
Nice article.