Space Animals
During Cold War, USA and USSR carried many missions with animals in space. But why are space animals so important? What were the first living animals to survive orbital flight? Learn more about animals in space and how they helped with space exploration.
What was the world's first animal in space? Many monkeys, dogs, cats mice, rats, frogs, tortoise, and even a spiders were launched into space. Learn all about history of animals in space.
First Animal in Space
We known that the first living beings ever sent into space were fruit flies, rye and cotton seeds, but what about first mamals? What about monkeys, cats and dogs? Check out detailed information about space flights of these animals.
Albert was a rhesus monkey that died of suffocation during his space flight. This brave astronaut was the original monkey pioneer. Albert II was the first monkey to be sent successfully into space.
Felix and Felicette should be the best-known cats in the world. In France, numerous cats were undergoing intensive training for possible space flight, and Felix was the one chosen. In 1963 Felicette (or Felix) was sent into space.
Dogs in Space
While USA scientist were focused on monkeys, Russian scientist carried their experiments mostly with dogs. They used a number of dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights. What was the first dog to orbit Earth and the first orbital death? Read about space dogs.
Dogs are well suited to endure long periods of inactivity, but not all dogs are perfect candidates for space flights. Soviet scientist tested many types and species of dogs to determine a suitable dog for space missions.