From Dogs, fruit flies to Chimpanzee, animals that went into Space before Humans did!
Washington, June 21: Since the 18th century, animals have been used to test the survivability of spaceflight, before human spaceflights were attempted. Sending animals to space began as a way to make sure that human astronauts could survive in space at all. Later, other non-human animals were flown to investigate various biological processes and the effects microgravity and space flight might have on them.
In 1783, a sheep, duck and rooster were sent up in the newly invented hot-air balloon. The balloon flew for 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) and landed safely.
The first animal astronauts:
Fruit
flies:
The
very
first
animals
in
outer
space
were
fruit
flies,
that
was
launched
by
Nazis
on
Feb.
20,
1947,
where
no
Earth
creature
had
gone
before.
The
flies
reached
an
altitude
of
68
miles
(108
km)
and
they
made
it
back
to
Earth
alive.
The
purpose
of
the
experiment
was
to
explore
the
effects
of
radiation
exposure
at
high
altitudes.
Monkeys:
In
the
years
that
followed,
Nasa
sent
several
monkeys,
named
Albert
I,
II,
III,
IV,
into
space
attached
to
monitoring
instruments.
All
of
them
died.
Monkeys
were
implanted
with
sensors
to
measure
vital
signs,
and
many
were
under
anesthesia
during
launch.
It was not until the flight of a monkey named Yorick (accompanied by 11 mice) in September 1951 that scientists could claim to have sent a primate into space and returned it back to Earth alive.
Following the success of that flight, two white mice - Mildred and Albert - were placed inside a rotating drum allowing them to float.
Laika,
the
Dog:
In
1957,
a
dog
named
Laika
became
the
first
animal
to
orbit
Earth.
On
board
the
small
satellite
was
a
little
dog,
that
looped
around
the
Earth
in
the
Sputnik
2
space
capsule.
Laika
was
a
young,
mostly-Siberian
husky.
Later,
she
died
during
her
historic
flight.
However,
it
was
still
unclear
whether
humans
could
survive
in
space.
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Mice,
rats
and
rabbits:
Soviet
scientists
then
began
sending
mice,
rats
and
rabbits
of
their
own
as
one-way
passengers
on
low-level
orbits.
Ham
the
Chimpanzee:
Ham
the
Chimpanzee
flew
a
Mercury
capsule
on
a
sub-orbital
trajectory
on
On
Jan
31,
1961.
Enos
became
the
first
chimp
to
orbit
a
Mercury
spacecraft
on
Nov.
29,
1961.
Both
chimps
survived
their
flights.
Felix,
the
Cat:
In
1963,
French
scientists
launched
the
first
cat
into
space.
The
cat,
named
Felix,
was
successfully
retrieved
after
a
parachute
landing
back
on
Earth.
But
a
second
flight
with
Felix
ran
into
problems
and
the
animal
didn't
survive.
Other
animals:
In
1968
the
Soviet
Union
sent
a
spacecraft
to
orbit
the
moon
carrying
two
tortoises,
wine
flies,
mealworms,
Frogs,
cats
and
spiders.
To date, seven national space programs have flown animals into space- the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Argentina, China, Japan and Iran. But once humans landed on the moon in 1969, the role of animals began to fade. But spacecraft still carried biological payloads, including rabbits, turtles, insects, spiders, fish, jellyfish, amoebae and algae. However, today spaceflight scientists are focusing on how to send Humans on Mars.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that three Indian astronauts will be sent to space by 2022, as part of India's ambitious Gaganyaan-'India's maiden human spaceflight programme'.
GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability for this mission, will be used to launch Gaganyaan. Two unmanned Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans. The total programme is expected to be completed before 2022 with first unmanned flight within 30 months. The mission will aim to send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days. The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400km. The total programme cost is expected to be less than Rs. 10,000 crores.