10 animals that have been in space

The first manned flight into space took place on April 12, 1961. This man was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. However, the first manned flight into space was not the first flight of a living being. Several decades ago, people began to launch animals on space expeditions on rockets. About half of the subjects were supposed to survive, while the other half should not have set foot on Earth again.

10. Cats

People began to launch cats into space somewhat later than other animals; the French first launched a cat into space on October 18, 1963. To date, the question of who was the first cat in space remains a mystery: the stray cat Felix or the cat named Felicette. Felix's (or Felicette's) first flight went well, but the next, a week later, ended sadly for the poor kitten. Half a century later, the Iranian government, which is beginning to expand its space horizons, announced its intention to launch a new space expedition with a Persian cat on board.

9. Rodents

The order of rodents is the most numerous order of mammals, perhaps that is why they have taken part in various space experiments for many years. Mice, rats, hamsters and guinea pigs were sent into space more than once, where numerous experiments were performed on them. For example, in 2001, biomedical technology specialist Ted Bateman, in collaboration with the National Space Administration NASA and the biotechnology corporation Amgen, tested a protein called osteoprotegerin on mice. They speculated that it would help stem the deterioration of bones caused by aging. Soon there was an ideal chance to conduct a study of the drug in space, because time there accelerates somewhat, therefore, the aging process too. Naturally, the protein worked, and thanks to such experiments, it will be possible in a few years to prevent bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

Jeffrey Alberts, professor of psychology at Indiana University at Bloomington, has also experimented with rats. One of them was that pregnant animals were placed in zero-gravity conditions, so he was able to observe the behavior and movements of animals born in space. The behavior of these rats was markedly different from the behavior of those born on Earth: their movements were more complex and accurate.

8. Fish

In 2012, the Japanese shuttle HTV-3 docked at the International Space Station. On board was an aquarium with fish called "medaka". Various experiments were carried out on them, because they were perfect for this, thanks to their rapid reproduction and transparent skin. This allowed the researchers to easily observe the internal organs of the subjects. Like other animals, they were tested for bone disease and muscle wasting. Even though they are in the water, fish are also susceptible to microgravity and behave strangely in it: they swim in loops rather than straight lines.

7. Chimpanzee

As the closest relatives of humans, chimpanzees have made a very significant contribution to the development of the space program. The first chimpanzee in space was Ham, a wild monkey captured in Cameroon in 1959. He trained under the strictest conditions at Holloman Air Force Base through a system of positive and negative reinforcement. If Ham performed the trainer's assignments correctly, he would receive a slice of banana. If he did not complete the tasks and resisted, he received a light shock with an electric shock.

Ham's test flight was named the Mercury-Redstone 2 and launched on January 31, 1961 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Several malfunctions were discovered during the flight, but Ham did an excellent job and his spacesuit protected him. He went on to live at the Washington DC National Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo. He died at the age of 26.

After Ham, a more experienced test subject was sent on space travel, his name was Enos. He had already been in the orbit of our planet more than once, so his flight took place without any incident and soon he returned to his home alive and was glad to see the people he already knew. Unfortunately, the antibiotics of the time were not strong enough and Enos died of dysentery about a year after his flight. His death had nothing to do with his space missions.

6. Monkeys

Various types of monkeys went on space expeditions: squirrel monkeys of the capuchin family, rhesus monkeys of the monkey family, and common macaques. The greatest contribution to the development of medicine was made by rhesus monkeys, becoming one of the very first primates to be cloned.

The rhesus monkey, named Albert II, was the first to go on a space expedition after his fellow rhesus monkey, Albert, failed, dying from lack of air in the cockpit of his ship. The rest of the subjects, with the nicknames Albert the third, fourth, fifth and sixth, also sadly ended their story and died (Albert the fourth died a few hours later after returning from his flight to Earth). Monkeys have also taken part in space missions in other countries such as France, Russia and Argentina. Most of them, unfortunately, could not survive and return to Earth.

5. Amphibians

Various species of amphibians, especially toads, frogs and newts, have served scientists as indicators of the state of their environment. Amphibians are so named because they live both on land and in the aquatic environment; they also have the ability to notice and react to even the smallest and imperceptible for us changes in our environment. They are able to notice and tolerate the slightest changes in climate and infection with various diseases.

Dozens of frogs were sent into space, and one of them, figuratively, got into the very epicenter of this flight. A NASA snapshot of the Minotaur 5 rocket taking off in Virginia caused a sensation: a flying frog got into the frame. Iberian ribbed newts have also made several space flights since the Soviet Bion-7 in 1985. Scientists were interested in how outer space might affect their ability to reproduce.

4. Nematodes

Nematodes, or roundworms, are mainly parasitic (they are the causative agents of trichinosis and parasitize on domestic dogs, like heart). Can also infect animal lovers - humans. These little creatures flew into space several times, and also participated in the Apollo 16 mission to the moon.

In 2003, space shuttle Columbia crashed while returning to Earth. All seven crew members were killed, but not all was lost. The container containing the nematodes was found among the wreckage, and despite the slightest chance of survival, the worms survived. This experiment showed that worms undergo the same health changes that humans do when traveling in space (muscle atrophy and diabetes symptoms).

3. Tardigrades

We cannot imagine how dangerous outer space can be both for humans and for any other living creatures: space deprived of oxygen; sudden changes in temperature; and also cosmic radiation capable of melting human bones. If a person enters open space without a protective spacesuit, in just a few seconds he will lose consciousness.He will not notice death, because being unconscious, he will not feel the terrible cold that can freeze him in a few minutes, or the rupture of his lungs, which would be caused by the air pressure that remained in them.

Tardigrades are a type of microscopic invertebrate that is one of the harshest and most adaptable creatures on our planet. They can survive in conditions that are fatal for the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Earth. Being in unfavorable conditions, tardigrades enter a state of suspended animation and turn off all their life processes, thanks to which they can do without the need for food for several years and endure both high and those bordering on absolute zero temperatures. As the expedition of the Foton-M3 spacecraft with 3000 tardigrades on board has shown, these creatures are able to exist in oxygen-free space. The expedition took place in 2007.

2. Spiders

Spiders have also taken part in many space exploration and expeditions, although they are one of the most terrible and dangerous creatures on our planet. So, in 2011, the spiders of the genus Nephila, a species of gold mirrors, with the names Gladys and Esmeralda, were delivered to the ISS. There they hunted and weaved their webs in the absence of any gravity. This particular type of spider was chosen because every night they weave new webs to replace old ones (this would allow scientists to study more of their web designs).

A jumping spider named Nefertiti also lived on the ISS during 2011. She did not weave a web, but simply pounced on her prey. The lack of gravity seemed to have little effect on her hunting technique. Upon her return to Earth, Nefertiti was housed in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Zoo.

1. Dogs

The Soviet Union became famous for the fact that starting in the second half of the twentieth century, it began to use dogs for space research. The main assumption of countries that are on a par with the USSR was that Soviet scientists used samples grown in laboratory conditions for this. But Soviet scientists assumed that it was stray and mongrel dogs that would be stronger and more resilient than domestic or laboratory dogs. In addition, they were easy to train and felt great in confined spaces. For convenience, only female subjects were selected in the design of the spacesuit.

One of the most famous astronaut dogs is Laika. She was the most ordinary Moscow stray dog. However, she became one of the very first animals to orbit the Earth. Unlike most of the other test subjects, Laika was not supposed to survive and return to Earth. A few days after take-off, they began to feed her with poisoned food to avoid hunger and painful death. Unfortunately, the spacecraft overheated, and Laika died five hours after the launch of the rocket, having made four orbits around the Earth.

In 1960, two dogs named Belka and Strelka became the first animals to survive a flight into orbit. The next year Strelka got puppies. As a gesture of goodwill, Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev presented one of the puppies, nicknamed Pushinka, to John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline. Fluffy would continue to have offspring with Welsh Terrier Kennedy, Charlie, and John F. Kennedy would jokingly call them "navels."