Editing Animals in space (section)

=== 1940s ===
The [[Fruit flies in space|first animals sent into space]] were [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit flies]] aboard a U.S.-launched [[V-2 rocket]] on 20 February 1947 from [[White Sands Missile Range]], [[New Mexico]].<ref name=Beischer1962 /><ref>[http://www.postwarv2.com/usa/ws/uars/uars20.html UPPER AIR ROCKET SUMMARY V-2 NO. 20] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715110530/http://www.postwarv2.com/usa/ws/uars/uars20.html |date=15 July 2011 }}. postwarv2.com</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/afspbio/part1.htm |title=The Beginnings of Research in Space Biology at the Air Force Missile Development Center, 1946–1952 |access-date=31 January 2008 |work=History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics |publisher=[[NASA]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080125044753/https://history.nasa.gov/afspbio/part1.htm| archive-date= 25 January 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/FactSheets/V2/v-2tab.htm |title=V-2 Firing Tables |access-date=31 January 2008 |publisher=[[White Sands Missile Range]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080125175018/http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/FactSheets/V2/v-2tab.htm |archive-date = 25 January 2008}}</ref> The purpose of the experiment was to explore the effects of radiation exposure at high altitudes. The rocket reached {{convert|109|km|mi|abbr=on}} in 3 minutes 10 seconds, past both the U.S. Air Force {{convert|50|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} and the [[Karman line|
international 100&nbsp;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]].

[[Albert II (monkey)|Albert II]], a [[rhesus monkey]], became the [[monkeys in space|first monkey]], first primate, and first mammal in space on 14 June 1949, in a U.S.-launched V-2, after the failure of the original Albert's mission on ascent. [[Albert I (monkey)|Albert I]] reached only {{convert|48-63|km|mi|abbr=on}} altitude; Albert II reached about {{convert|134|km|mi|abbr=on}}, and died on impact after a parachute failure. 

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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gray |first1=Tara |title=A Brief History of Animals in Space |url=https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |website=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |date=18 January 1998 |publisher=NASA |access-date=9 December 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011053912/https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |url-status=live }}</ref>