While you consider area journey, you would possibly consider photographs of rockets, astronauts in cool fits, and the shining stars in our skies, however do you know that earlier than people strapped themselves into rockets, we despatched some unsuspecting animal astronauts into the cosmos? That’s proper—earlier than Neil Armstrong took his big leap for mankind, a bunch of courageous critters have been already floating round in zero gravity. Let’s check out among the most well-known, and a few unlucky, animal astronauts who boldly went the place no animal had gone earlier than.
Laika: The Soviet House Pooch
Picture credit score: Sputnik/Alamy
First up, meet Laika, essentially the most well-known area canine in historical past. In 1957, the Soviet Union determined that man’s greatest pal ought to turn out to be man’s greatest astronaut. Laika was a stray canine discovered wandering the streets of Moscow, she was chosen to be the primary dwelling creature to orbit the Earth. She was loaded into Sputnik 2 and blasted off into area. Laika was a real explorer and sadly, not beneath her management, additionally a one-way traveller. Nonetheless, her sacrifice paved the way in which for human area journey, and she or he stays a cosmic canine hero to this present day. Hearsay has it, she’s nonetheless chasing her tail someplace within the nice past.
Félicette: The Feline Cosmonaut
Picture Credit score: Wikipedia
Subsequent on our record, my favorite as an authorized loopy cat woman, is Félicette, the primary and solely cat to ever go to area. In 1963, the French area program determined it was time to hitch the area race by sending a cat. Félicette, a black-and-white stray from the streets of Paris, was chosen for the mission, doubtless resulting from her capability to land on her ft it doesn’t matter what, and likewise her 9 lives. Not like Laika, Félicette returned to Earth safely, making her a real area survivor. Nonetheless, her reward was not a bowl of cream; her mind was used for testing just a few months after her return to earth. So as to add insult to harm, the scientists discovered nothing. Félicette will all the time be referred to as the one feline cosmonaut and her purrs are ceaselessly a part of area historical past.
Monkeys in House: The Banana Republic
The US despatched a collection of rhesus monkeys into area within the late Nineteen Forties and early Fifties. These courageous primates had names like Albert I, II, and III—as a result of if you’re the primary monkey in area, you don’t get a flowery identify, you get a quantity apparently. The primary couple of Alberts…effectively… it didn’t go to plan, with rockets malfunctioning or parachutes failing. Ultimately, Albert VI (sure, they went by way of A LOT) made it again alive, touchdown again on Earth September 20th, 1951.
Ham: The Astro-Chimp
Talking of primates, let’s not neglect Ham, the primary chimpanzee to trip a rocket. In 1961, america determined it was time to up their area sport and despatched Ham on a 16-minute suborbital flight. Ham was no bizarre chimp, he was skilled to drag levers and push buttons. When the rocket blasted off, Ham dealt with it like a champ, or ought to we are saying, like a chimp. He even managed to return to Earth in a single piece. After that, he retired to dwell out his days away from the highlight, in all probability sipping on banana smoothies.
Picture credit score: NASA
Tardigrades: The Indestructible
Picture credit score: Philippe Garcelon
Now, let’s discuss the actual MVPs of area journey—the tardigrades. These microscopic creatures, also referred to as water bears, have been despatched into area in 2007. They’re not precisely the cuddliest of animals, however they’re arguably the hardest. Tardigrades can survive excessive temperatures, radiation, and even the vacuum of area. Whereas the remainder of us want spacesuits and oxygen, tardigrades simply relax and benefit from the trip.
If there’s ever an intergalactic apocalypse, it is going to be the Tardigrades’ world and we’ll simply be dwelling in it. These tiny area explorers would greater than doubtless, outlive us all.
So, the following time you gaze up on the stars, take a second to recollect these courageous animals who explored earlier than us, whether or not it’s a canine, a cat, a monkey, or a microscopic bear.
