Monkey astronauts
In the early days of space exploration, animals were frequently used to see if it was possible for living things to survive the stress of spaceflight. The tests began in the 1940s, as the USA began to develop German V2 rocket technology. The first animals to be put into space were fruit flies in 1947. In the 1950s, the USA began to use monkeys as test subjects. Albert I, a rhesus monkey, was the first to be launched in 1948 and managed an altitude of 63km, just on the border of space. Albert II, became the first monkey in space a year later. He survived the launch, but his parachute failed on re-entry. Several other monkey missions took place at the beginning of the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the sixth Albert mission that a successful landing was achieved.
A dog’s life - Laika, the first living thing in orbit
In 1957, the USSR announced that they had successfully put an artificial satellite named Sputnik into orbit around Earth. This event began a space race between the USA and USSR. The increased pressure on NASA and the Soviet Space Agency led to even more animals being used. Just one month after the launch of Sputnik 1, the USSR launched Sputnik 2, which carried a passenger; a small dog named Laika.
Laika, whose name means ‘Barker’ in Russian, was a stray from the streets of Moscow. She survived the launch and successfully became the first living thing to orbit Earth.
After the launch, Laika became an instant celebrity both in the USSR and around the world. However, while most space missions with animals onboard had included some kind of landing method (even if they didn’t always work), the Soviet Space Agency had not built any means for Laika to return to Earth. This decision caused widespread condemnation, particularly from animal rights groups such as the RSPCA and Canine Defence League.
In 1960, the USSR launched another two dogs, Belka and Strelka, this time with a means of landing. They became the first mammals to reach orbit and successfully return to Earth. Their mission paved the way for Yuri Gagarin to become the first human in orbit just six months later in April 1961.
Ham, the chimpanzee
Shortly after Gagarin’s orbit, President Kennedy announced that the USA intended to send a manned mission to the moon. In preparation for this, NASA sent a chimpanzee called Ham into space. Ham had been trained to pull levers and his performance in his capsule showed that it would be possible for an astronaut to perform the tasks necessary for successfully landing on the moon. He was successfully retrieved suffering from nothing worse than a bruised nose. Just three months later, NASA launched Alan Shepherd, who became the first American in space.
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