We all know Laika, a dog was the first animal to travel in space. But little do we know the fact that before that many animals were sent for survival tests in space. Following are group of species who made it first in space before human beings did.
MONKEY
- First ever primate astronaut to travel in space was Albert, a rhesus monkey followed by Albert II but both couldn’t survive the flight.
- Able and Miss Baker were the first monkeys to survive the flight into space
DOGS
• Tsygan and Dezik were first dogs launched in space but did not orbit. They were the first mammals successfully recovered from spaceflight.
• Laika was the first animal to orbit earth
• Soviet Union sent two more dogs Belka and Strelka into space on Aug 19, 1960. The
animals were the first to actually orbit and return alive.
CHIMPANZEE
• Ham was the first animal to actually interact with a space vessel rather than
simply ride in it.
CAT
• Felix was the first cat to travel in space and was launched by French scientists on
Oct 18, 1963.
WILDLIFE DOSE: 2
SPIDERS
• Two garden spiders named Arabella and Anita were sent to space in July 28,
1973.
FISH
• The mummichog is the first fish to travel in space on July 28, 1973.
TORTOISE
• A pair of steppe tortoises was first in the race to the moon even before human
beings were sent. It was launched by the Soviet Zond 5 on September 15, 1968.
RABBIT
• First rabbit in space was Marfusha, a Russian Rabbit on July 2, 1959.
COCKROACH
• Nadezhda,a cockroach sent into space by Russian scientists, was the first
creature to give birth in space. It gave birth to 33 young cockroaches in total.
