Animals in Space

Fruit Fllies

Feb 20, 1947

If you thought that the first animal in space was either a dog or a chimp, you are wrong; it was actually fruit flies. They took off in a captured German V-2 rocket to test whether or not the radiation and acceloration was safe enough for humans. www.rocketcityspacepioneers.com/space/first-animal-in-space

Mice

Aug 31, 1950

A mouse was sent into space for the fifth flight of ship 'Albert'. The parachute did not work as it should have and the mouse was killed by the impact of landing.
www.toptenz.net/top-10-animals-astronauts-in-space.php

Dogs

Nov 3, 1957

Laika a mixed breed dog was sent from the Soviet Union. This dog was the first ever living being to sucessfully orbit Earth. www.space.com/17764-laika-first-animals-in-space.html

Monkeys

May 28, 1959

Able and Miss Baker were the first two monkeys to ever live through their space trip without the tragic ending of death. They were aboard a Jupiter rocket that landed in Florida. www.universetoday.com/38704/first-monkey-in-space/

Frogs

Mar 1, 1961

After the first attempt to bring frogs into space had been destroyed during launch, they decided to give it another go two years later. This time frog was sucessfully launched into space on the USSR's Vostok 3A rocket. www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/sep/17/frogs-in-space-one-giant-leap

Guinea Pigs

Mar 1, 1961

A guinea pig was sent up in space along with mice and frogs so it wouldn't be lonely. The USSR was testing to see which one of Earth's native animals would make the best cosmonaut. www.virginmedia.com/digital/galleries/animals-in-space.php?ssid=6

Cats

Oct 18, 1963

A cat named Felicette from France, had electrodes on her brain to be able to send Earth neurological messages. This trip was sucessful and she landed saftley. h2g2.com/approved_entry/A87798820

Spiders

Jan 1, 1973

Two European garden spiders named Arabella and Anita were sent into space to test how the weightlessness and spaceflight would affect their web constuction. www.toptenz.net/top-ten-animals-astronauts-in-space.php

Newts

Jan 1, 1994

A professor of otolaryngology and a Japanese scientist sent red bellied newts into space to see if babies are able to be born in those type of conditions. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11799253

Fish

Oct 23, 2012

Besides one American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts, 32 medaka fish blasted off into space on a Soyuz rocket. This was to test how the fish adapt to life without gravity. www.nbcnews.com/id/49510553/#.Uqp4SxaaDjw