Laika, the first animal to enter orbit
Dogs, monkeys, turtles and even spiders and flies have had the privilege of taking a walk in space. The adventure of these, and many other animals, rendered a great service to humanity. They helped scientists understand the effects of spaceflight, particularly microgravity, on living organisms. Some animals even became guinea pigs for tests with the clothes that would later be used by the astronauts. The first animals to fly were fruit flies, sent along with seeds on an American spacecraft in July 1946. The scientists’ goal was to study the effects of exposure to radiation at high altitudes. In the illustration below, we present some “bichonauts”, who, like the famous Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong, had the rare opportunity to prove that the Earth is indeed blue.
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space ark First dog and first monkey could not resist the journey
Monkey Albert II
Flight date – 6/14/1949
Country – United States
Purpose of the trip – To study the effects of space on the animal organism
Albert II was the first monkey to be sent on a suborbital flight, in which the spacecraft climbs high enough to reach space, but does not have enough speed to spin around in Earth’s orbit. The poor bichonaut had a tragic fate: he died on landing
Laika bitch
Date of flight – 3/11/1957
Country – Soviet Union
Purpose of the trip – To find out if an animal was capable of staying in Earth’s orbit
This Soviet dog went down to posterity as the first animal to make a flight in Earth’s orbit. She was the only crew member on the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, but she couldn’t resist the experience and died during the mission. After her, several dogs made orbital flights
felix the cat
Flight date – 10/18/1963
Country – France
Purpose of the trip – To observe the effects of microgravity on the animal’s brain
Some say that Felix was actually a kitten named Felicette. In any case, the French cat was the first feline to travel into space. He flew with several electrodes attached to his head and had a happy ending: he was recovered alive
Dogs Veterok and Ugolyok
Flight date – 2/22/1966
Country – Soviet Union
Purpose of trip – Observe long-term effects of microgravity
Watched by video and telemetry equipment, these two Russian dogs boarded the Voskhod 3 spacecraft and remained in Earth orbit for 22 days. The pair set a time record in space that has yet to be beaten by any other dog.
Arabella spider
Flight date – 7/28/1973
Country – United States
Purpose of the trip – To see if spiders were able to spin a web in space
The American space station Skylab 3 was, for 59 days, the home of Arabella, a spider of the species Araneus diadematus. During her stay in space, she did not disappoint and worked tirelessly on building a beautiful web.