Animals in space
Landmarks for animals in space |
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Animals in space originally served to test the
A wide variety of animals have been launched into space, including
Two tortoises and several varieties of plants were the first inhabitants of Earth to circle the Moon, on the September 1968 Zond 5 mission. Turtles followed on the November 1968 Zond 6 circumlunar mission, and four turtles flew to the Moon on Zond 7 in August 1969. In 1972 five mice, Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey, orbited the Moon a record 75 times in Apollo 17's Command Module America, the last crewed voyage to the Moon.
Background
Animals had been used in aeronautic exploration since 1783 when the
Timeline
1940s
The first animals sent into space were fruit flies aboard a U.S.-launched V-2 rocket on 20 February 1947 from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.[2][3][4][5] The purpose of the experiment was to explore the effects of radiation exposure at high altitudes. The rocket reached 109 km (68 mi) in 3 minutes 10 seconds, past both the U.S. Air Force 80 km (50 mi) and the international 100 km definitions of the boundary of space. The Blossom capsule was ejected and successfully deployed its parachute. The fruit flies were recovered alive. Other V-2 missions carried biological samples, including moss.
Numerous monkeys of several species were flown by the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. Monkeys were implanted with sensors to measure vital signs, and many were under anesthesia during launch. The death rate among these monkeys was very high: about two-thirds of all monkeys launched in the 1940s and 1950s died on missions or soon after landing.[6]
1950s
On 31 August 1950, the U.S. launched a mouse into space (137 km) aboard a V-2 (the Albert V flight, which, unlike the Albert I-IV flights, did not have a monkey), however the animal died following descent because the parachute system failed.[7] The U.S. launched several other mice in the 1950s.
On 22 July 1951, the Soviet Union launched the R-1 IIIA-1 flight, carrying the dogs Tsygan (Russian: Цыган, "Gypsy" or "Țigan/Țagaur" in romani language) and Dezik (Russian: Дезик) into space, but not into orbit.[8] These two dogs were the first living higher organisms successfully recovered from a spaceflight.[8] Both space dogs survived the flight, although Dezik would die on a subsequent flight. The U.S. launched mice aboard spacecraft later that year; however, they failed to reach the altitude for true spaceflight.
On 3 November 1957, the second-ever orbiting spacecraft carried the first animal into orbit, the dog Laika,[1] launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft (nicknamed 'Muttnik' in the West). Laika died during the flight, as was expected because the technology to return spacecraft from orbit had not yet been developed.[1] At least 10 other dogs were launched into orbit and numerous others on sub-orbital flights before the historic date of 12 April 1961, when Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
On 13 December 1958, a
On 2 July 1959, a launch of a Soviet R2 rocket, which reached 212 kilometres (132 mi), carried two space dogs and Marfusha, the first rabbit to go into space.[2]
A 19 September 1959 launch, a Jupiter AM-23, carried two frogs and 12 mice but was destroyed during launch.[2]
On 4 December 1959, a rhesus macaque Sam flew on the Little Joe 2 mission of Project Mercury to an altitude of 85 km (53 mi).[2]
1960s
On 19 August 1960 the Soviet Union launched
The US sent three black mice: Sally, Amy and Moe 1,000 km up and 8,000 km distance from Cape Canaveral on 13 October 1960 using an Atlas D 71D launch vehicle. The mice were retrieved from the nosecone near Ascension Island and were said to be in good condition.[13]
On 31 January 1961,
Enos became the first and only chimpanzee to reach Earth orbit when, on 29 November 1961, he flew two orbits in a Mercury capsule on the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission. Two months later Project Mercury pilot John Glenn orbited the Earth.
On 9 March 1961 the Soviet Union launched the Korabl-Sputnik 4 that carried a dog named Chernushka, some mice, frogs and, for the first time into space, a guinea pig.[15] All were successfully recovered.
France flew their first rat (Hector) into space on 22 February 1961. Two more rats were flown in October 1962.[16]
On 18 October 1963, France launched Félicette the cat aboard Veronique AGI sounding rocket No. 47. The launch was directed by the French Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA). Félicette was recovered alive after a 15-minute flight and a descent by parachute. Félicette had electrodes implanted into her brain, and the recorded neural impulses were transmitted back to Earth. After two months of analysis, she was euthanized so an autopsy could be performed.[17] On 18 December 2019 a bronze statue with the effigy of Félicette was inaugurated at the "Université internationalle de l'espace" in Strasbourg, France. A second cat was sent to space by CERMA on 24 October 1963, but the flight ran into difficulties that prevented recovery.[18] In 1967, France launched two pig-tailed macaque monkeys into suborbital space.[19]
China launched mice and rats in 1964 and 1965, and two dogs in 1966.[20]
During the
The US launched Biosatellite I in 1966 and Biosatellite I/II in 1967 with fruit flies,
On 11 April 1967, Argentina also launched the rat Belisario, atop a Yarará rocket,[22][self-published source?] from Cordoba military range, which was recovered successfully. This flight was followed by a series of subsequent flights using rats.[23] It is unclear if any Argentinean biological flights passed the 100 km limit of space.
The first animals in deep space, the first to circle the Moon, and the first two
On 28 June 1969, the US launched the monkey Bonny, a macaque, on Biosatellite 3 in what was intended to have been a 30-day orbit around the Earth, with the monkey being fed by food pellets from a dispenser that he had been trained to operate. Bonny's health deteriorated rapidly and he was returned to Earth on 7 July,[25] but died the next day after the Biosatellite capsule was recovered in the Pacific Ocean.[26]
In total in the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union launched missions with at least 57 passenger slots for dogs. The actual number of dogs in space is smaller, because some dogs flew more than once.
On 23 December 1969, as part of the 'Operación Navidad' (Operation Christmas), Argentina launched Juan (a cai monkey, native of Argentina's Misiones Province) using a Canopus II rocket.[27] It ascended 82 kilometers[28] and then was recovered successfully. Later, on 1 February 1970 the experience was repeated with a female monkey of the same species using a X-1 Panther rocket. It reached a higher altitude than its predecessor, but it was lost after the capsule's parachute failed.
1970s
Two
Apollo 16, launched on 16 April 1972, carried nematodes. Apollo 17, launched on 7 December 1972, carried five pocket mice, Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey, who stayed in the command module with astronaut Ronald Evans as it circled the Moon for six days. One of the mice died on the trip.[29]
The Soviets flew several
1980s
The Soviet Union sent eight monkeys into space in the 1980s on Bion flights. Bion flights also flew zebra danio, fruit flies, rats, stick insect eggs and the first newts in space.
In 1985, the U.S. sent two
After an experiment was lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, chicken embryos (fertilized eggs) were sent into space in an experiment on STS-29 in 1989. The experiment was designed for a student contest.
1990s
Four monkeys flew aboard the last Bion flights of the Soviet Union as well as frogs and fruit flies. The
China launched
Toyohiro Akiyama, a Japanese journalist, carried Japanese tree frogs with him during his trip to the Mir space station in December 1990. Other biological experiments aboard Mir involved quail eggs.
Japan launched its first animals, a species of newt, into space on 18 March 1995 aboard the Space Flyer Unit.
During the 1990s the U.S. carried
2000s
The
C. elegans are also part of experiments aboard the International Space Station as well as research using quail eggs.
Earlier Space Shuttle missions included grade school, junior high and high school projects; some of these included
On 12 July 2006,
In September 2007, during the
On the same mission, a number of cockroaches were carried inside a sealed container and at least one of the females conceived during the mission. After they were returned to Earth, the one named Nadezhda became the first Earth creature to produce young that had been conceived in space.[38]
On 15 March 2009, during the countdown of the STS-119, a free-tailed bat was seen clinging to the fuel tank. NASA observers believed the bat would fly off once the Shuttle started to launch, but it did not. Upon analyzing the images, a wildlife expert who provided support to the center said it likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist. The animal most likely perished quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit.[39]
In November 2009,
2010s
In May 2011, the last flight of
In November 2011, the
In October 2012, 32 medaka fish were delivered to the
On 28 January 2013, Iranian news agencies reported that Iran sent a monkey in a "Pishgam" rocket to a height of 116 km (72 mi) and retrieved a "shipment". Later Iran's space research website uploaded an 18-minute video.[45] The video was uploaded later on YouTube.[46]
On 3 February 2013, on the 31st anniversary of its revolution,
In January 2014, the search strategies of pavement ants were studied on the ISS.[49][50]
On 19 July 2014, Russia announced that they launched their Foton-M4 satellite into low Earth orbit (575 kilometers) with one male and four female geckos (possibly gold dust day geckos) as the payload. This was an effort to study the effects of microgravity on reproductive habits of reptiles.[51] On 24 July 2014, it was announced that Russia had lost control of the Foton-M4 satellite, leaving only two months to restore contact before the geckos' food supply was exhausted.[52] Control of the satellite was subsequently restored on 28 July 2014.[53] On 1 September 2014 Russia confirmed the death of all five geckos, stating that their mummified bodies seem to indicate they froze to death. Russia is said to have appointed an emergency commission to investigate the animals' deaths.[54]
On 23 September 2014, SpaceX CRS-4 mission delivered 20 mice to live on the ISS for study of the long-term effects of microgravity on the rodents. This was the first use of the Rodent Research Hardware System.[55]
On 14 April 2015, the SpaceX CRS-6 delivered 20 C57BL/6NTAC mice to live on the ISS for evaluating microgravity as the extreme opposite of a healthy active lifestyle. In the absence of gravity, astronauts are subject to a decrease in muscle, bone, and tendon mass. "Although, we're not out to treat couch potatoes," states head Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR) scientist on the project Dr. Sam Cadena, "we're hoping that these experiments will help us to better understand muscle loss in populations where physical activity in any form is not an option; e.g., in the frail elderly or those subjected to bed rest or immobilization due to surgery or chronic disease."[56]
On 8 April 2016, Rodent Research 3 delivered 20 mice on SpaceX CRS-8. The experiment sponsored by Eli Lilly and Co. was a study of myostatin inhibition for the prevention of skeletal and muscle atrophy and weakness. Mice are known to have rapid loss of muscle and bone mass after as little as 12 days of space flight exposure. The mice were euthanized and dissected on the station and then frozen for eventual return to Earth for further study.[57]
On 29 June 2018, a SpaceX Dragon spaceship blasted off from Florida carrying 20 mice. The rodent crew arrived at the ISS on 2 July 2018. Their record-breaking journey – this was the longest mice have been off the planet – was part of a study on how Earth-dwellers' physiology and sleep schedules responded to the stress of being in space.[58]
The Chinese lunar lander Chang'e 4 carries a 3 kg sealed container with seeds and insect eggs to test whether plants and insects could hatch and grow together in synergy.[59] The experiment includes six types of organisms:[60][61] cottonseed, potato, rapeseed, Arabidopsis thaliana (a flowering plant), as well as yeast and fruit fly eggs. If the eggs hatch, the larvae would produce carbon dioxide, while the germinated plants would release oxygen through photosynthesis.[citation needed] A miniature camera is imaging the growth.[60]
On 11 April 2019, the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashed into the Moon during a failed landing attempt.[62] Its payload included a few thousand tardigrades. They could potentially survive on the lunar surface for some years, although it is unclear if they survived the impact.[63]
2020s
On 3 June 2021, SpaceX CRS-22 launched tardigrades (water bears) and Hawaiian bobtail squid to the ISS. The squid were launched as hatchlings and will be studied to see if they can incorporate their symbiotic bacteria into their light organ while in space.[64]
See also
- Alice King Chatham – American designer who designed equipment for some of the first animals in space
- Bioastronautics – Academic discipline
- Félicette, only cat in space
- Félix I, a canceled Brazilian Army project to launch a cat in 1958-59.
- List of microorganisms tested in outer space
- List of species that have landed on the Moon
- Model organism – Organisms used to study biology across species
- Monkeys and apes in space – Space travel by primates
- One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps, 2008 documentary
- Parachuting animals
- Plants in space – Growth of plants in outer space
- Soviet space dogs – Soviet-era program that sent dogs to space
- Space Dogs, 2010 film
- Tardigrades on the Moon
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Further reading
- McDowell, Jonathan (26 January 2000). "The History of Spaceflight: Nonhuman astronauts". The History of Spaceflight. Archived from the original on 2 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- Caswell, Kurt. 2018. Laika's window: The legacy of a Soviet space dog. San Antonio: Trinity University Press.
- L. W. Fraser and E. H. Siegler, High Altitude Research Using the V-2 Rocket, March 1946 – April 1947 (Johns Hopkins University, Bumblebee Series Report No. 8, July 1948), p. 90.
- Kenneth W. Gatland, Development of the Guided Missile (London and New York, 1952), p. 188
- Capt. David G. Simons, Use of V-2 Rocket to Convey Primate to Upper Atmosphere (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, AF Technical Report 5821, May 1949), p. 1.
- Lloyd Mallan, Men, Rockets, and Space Rats (New York, 1955), pp. 84–93.
- Henry, James P.; et al. (1952). "Animal Studies of the Subgravity State during Rocket Flight". Journal of Aviation Medicine. 23 (5): 421–432. PMID 12990569.