What happened to the Animals that were sent to space
The unsung heroes of outer space
We often hear about our astronaut heroes who had gone into or returned from orbit. Returning astronauts are heartily welcomed by society, congratulated and their photos are taken as they receive a heroes welcome from all. But there lurks a dark truth amongst all this glory. There are unsung heroes that has frequently not returned. There are those behind space research and space travel that are not even remembered, whose bodies have often returned dead due to pressure compression, oxygen loss, or simply the stress of being alone in space. You heard that right, torture ! The shocking truth behind space travel is that it has been often tested on animals first. Animals were sent into space often times alone. And only when these flights were cleared risk free by our furry friends were mankind able to set foot to the vast journey into the unknown.
So what kind of animals went to space
All kinds of animals went to space! Not just rats, mice or monkeys. Here is a brief history of the animals to commemorate their sacrifice.
What happened to the fruit flies that were sent to space?
Fruit flies were the first animals that were sent into space in a rocket that was originally designed by the Nazis. By the end of World War 2, the Americans seized a bunch of V2 ballistic missiles designed by the Germans. The V2s were high speed long range weapons. Uncle Sam’s military realised the scientific potential of the missiles and started test firing them. There was some hope of sending people into space someday but before that there were some hard questions that needed answers. For instance, the side effects of cosmic radiation on humans was something the scientists were confused about. Biological samples such as plants, corn and rye were sent into space. But they needed something more similar to humans. And since fruit flies have genetic similarities with humans they were considered a potential candidate. Around 75% of all disease causing genes present in humans have similarities with the mighty fruit flies. So it was done, on February 20 1947, they were blasted into space. The fruit flies travelled 67 miles (109 km) into the air. NASA currently considers 100 km the point where the ultimate space officially begins. The flies returned back alive, with evidence that the cosmic radiation was not detrimental to their health or genetic makeup.
First monkey in Space
The US was the first to launch a primate into sub space altitude of 39 miles (63 km). A rhesus monkey named Albert was set aboard on a V2 rocket in June 1948. There was fear amongst the scientists that the micro-gravity would fail the astronauts cardiovascular systems. This is why the researchers wanted to send some relatively larger animal into the micro gravity environment and monkeys were the obvious choice. Albert died of suffocation in his flight and then a number of other monkeys followed. Albert 2, the next monkey which was also a rhesus monkey was the first monkey to reach space achieving an altitude of 83 miles( 134 km) in another V2 in 1949. Although Albert 2 survived the launch, he died of a parachute failure which caused his capsule to crash into the ground.
The rest of the Alberts 3,4,5 and 6 met similar fates. Although Albert 6 did survive for several hours after landing. He died from heat stress waiting for the recovery crew, cramped up in his capsule under the heat of the New Mexico sun. However the US reached a milestone in 1959 after they finally recovered two primates alive after their flights. A rhesus monkey named Able and a squirrel named Baker were retrieved unharmed after reaching an altitude of 483 km aboard a Jupiter rocket. But unfortunately, Able died during an operation that was performed on him to recover a chip that NASA implanted before his flight.
Since the chimpanzees were more closely related to humans, it obviously made more sense to test flights on them instead. The first chimp named Ham was launched in a sub orbital space flight on January 31 1961. He reached an altitude of 157 miles (253 km) during a 16.5 minute flight and was recovered unharmed thus paving the way for Alan Shepherd. The success of Ham gave NASA the confidence they needed to send Alan Shepherd into suborbital flight in on May 5th 1961.
The other countries were on the same path as the Americans and on March 1961, the Soviet union sent a dog Chernushka, some mice, frogs and a guinea pig into space. All the animals were successfully recovered. France flew their rat Hector into space on 22nd February 1961 and China launched mice and rats in 1964 and 1965, and two dogs in 1966. Although there have been success, most stories ended in tragedy such as the story of the first cat and the first dog in space.
The First cat in Space
Felicette was the first and only cat launched into space by the French Space Program on October 18 1963. A stray cat was plucked from the streets of Paris to become a national hero. She was trained for space flight with 14 other cats and became the most qualified candidate. All the cats had electrodes implanted in their skulls so that their neurological activity could be monitored throughout the flight. But Felicette being the lucky one was launched into space, a 100 miles above Earth and experienced zero gravity for several minutes. Then as soon as she arrived the capsule detached from the rocket and she safely landed to the ground where she was retrieved by scientists. The entire trip lasted 15 minutes. The French were eager to commemorate the legacy of Felicette and postage stamps were issued in her memory in some French colonies. After being a national heroine, Felicette was not allowed to live the rest of her days. Scientists had to euthanize her to study her brain and neurological activities. However a bronze statue of Felecitte now stands at the International Space University of France. Even though Felecitte’s tragedy was sad, it is not nearly as sad or tragic or heartbreaking as Laika, the first do to got to space
The First Dog in Space
The tragedy of Laika holds mostly into the fact that the mission was not designed to retrieve her. It was designed with the intent that it will eventually kill her. After Soviet Union’s huge success of launching humanity’s first artificial satellite into space, the Soviets got very ambitious about sending man up there. But in order to send a man, they needed to send a living being up there to test out the effects of everything on a living breathing passenger. On a secret site in Kazakhstan the 3rd of November 1957, Sputnik 2 was launched with Laika. Although she was not the first dog to ride a Russian rocket, many dogs before her were launched into the cusp of space. She was the first dog to go to space and the first animal to orbit the earth. Engineers did not design the rocket, the capsule and the control environment for a lengthy mission. It is possible that Laika only survived for a few hours after reaching orbit.
What did this all lead to?
All these animals were made to sacrifice their lives only to understand the effects of cosmic radiation, micro gravity and the effects of controlled environments on living beings. I hope we remember their sacrifices when we reach the edge of the solar system someday or manage to escape into a parallel universe someday as Dr. Michio Kaku says our universe is doomed.
