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Animals in space
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=== 1960s === [[File:Mercury-Atlas 5 Enos with handler (cropped).jpg|thumb|During the 29 November 1961, NASA [[Mercury-Atlas 5]] flight, [[Enos (chimpanzee)|Enos]] became the only chimpanzee, and third primate, to orbit the Earth.]] [[File:Ham - physical examination by doctor - NASA 1961.webm|thumb|[[Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham]], the first great ape in space, being given a physical examination in 1961]] On 19 August 1960 the Soviet Union launched [[Sputnik 5]] (also known as Korabl-Sputnik 2) which carried the dogs [[Belka and Strelka]], along with a gray rabbit, 40 mice, 2 rats, and 15 flasks of fruit flies and plants.<ref>[https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html A brief History of Animals in Space] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011053912/https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |date=11 October 2004 }}. ''NASA''</ref> It was the first spacecraft to carry animals into orbit and return them alive.<ref>[http://www.spacetoday.org/Astronauts/Animals/Dogs.html Dogs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017033511/http://www.spacetoday.org/Astronauts/Animals/Dogs.html |date=17 October 2015 }}, Space Online Today, 2004</ref> One of Strelka's pups, Pushinka, bred and born after her mission, was given as a present to [[Caroline Kennedy]] by [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in 1961, and many descendants are known to exist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/belka-strelka-first-dogs-survive-space-moscow-space-museum-2015-8|title=I traveled to Russia and met the first dogs to ever survive space in this rare museum|publisher=Business Insider|author=Dave Mosher|date=20 Aug 2015|accessdate=30 January 2021|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205033922/https://www.businessinsider.com/belka-strelka-first-dogs-survive-space-moscow-space-museum-2015-8|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=1960 Chronology|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url=http://www.astronautix.com/chrono/1960.htm|access-date=7 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926165622/http://www.astronautix.com/chrono/1960.htm|archive-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> On 31 January 1961, [[Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham]], a chimpanzee, was launched into sub-orbital space in a [[Mercury program|Mercury]] capsule aboard a [[Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle|Redstone rocket]] to become the first [[great ape]] in space. Ham's mission was [[Mercury-Redstone 2]]. The chimpanzee had been trained to pull levers to receive rewards of banana pellets and avoid electric shocks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch10-3.htm |title=MR-2: Ham Paves the Way |access-date=31 January 2008 |last=Swenson Jr.|first=Loyd S. |author2=James M. Grimwood |author3=Charles C. Alexander |year=1989 |work=This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury |publisher=[[NASA]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080130141204/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/ch10-3.htm| archive-date= 30 January 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> His flight demonstrated the ability to perform tasks during spaceflight. A little over three months later the United States sent [[Alan Shepard]] into space on a suborbital flight. [[Enos (chimpanzee)|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 [[Soviet space dogs#Chernushka|Chernushka]], some mice, [[frog]]s and, for the first time into space, a [[guinea pig]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |title=Animals in Space |access-date=31 January 2008 |first=Tara |last=Gray |year=1998 |publisher=[[NASA]] History Division| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080128134352/https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html| archive-date= 28 January 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> All were successfully recovered. France flew their first [[rat]] (Hector) into space on 22 February 1961. Two more rats were flown in October 1962.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/country/france.htm|title=France|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323115358/http://www.astronautix.com/country/france.htm |archive-date=23 March 2010|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url-status=dead|date=1997–2008}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Baheux|first=Romain|title=Et si Félicette, le premier chat dans l'espace, avait bientôt sa statue?|date=19 October 2017|url=https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/et-si-felicette-le-premier-chat-dans-l-espace-avait-bientot-sa-statue-18-10-2017-7340256.php|url-status=live|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130213227/https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/et-si-felicette-le-premier-chat-dans-l-espace-avait-bientot-sa-statue-18-10-2017-7340256.php}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |title=A Brief History of Animals in Space |access-date=29 November 2013 |last=Grey |first=Tara |year=2008 |publisher=[[NASA]] |archive-date=11 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011053912/https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1967, France launched two pig-tailed macaque monkeys into suborbital space.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=2013-01-28 |title=Monkeys in Space: A Brief Spaceflight History |url=https://www.space.com/19505-space-monkeys-chimps-history.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref> China launched mice and rats in 1964 and 1965, and two dogs in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2134494/chinas-secret-1960s-mission-send-two-dogs-space|title=China's secret 1960s mission to send two dogs into space|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=25 Feb 2018|accessdate=15 August 2021}}</ref> During the [[Voskhod program]], two Soviet space dogs, Veterok (Ветерок, Little Wind) and Ugolyok (Уголёк, Blackie), were launched on 22 February 1966, on board [[Cosmos 110]] and spent 22 days in orbit before landing on 16 March. This spaceflight of record-breaking duration was not surpassed by humans until [[Soyuz 11]] in 1971 and still stands as the longest space flight by dogs.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} The US launched Biosatellite I in 1966 and Biosatellite I/II in 1967 with fruit flies, [[parasitic wasp]]s, [[flour beetle]]s and frog eggs, along with [[bacterium|bacteria]], [[amoebae]], plants and [[fungi]].<ref>Dubbs, Chris and [[Colin Burgess (author)|Burgess, Colin]] (2007) ''Animals In Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle''. Springer. {{ISBN|0387360530}}.</ref> On 11 April 1967, Argentina also launched the rat Belisario, atop a Yarará rocket,<ref name="Leon">{{cite book|author=de León, Pablo|title=Historia de la Actividad Espacial en la Argentina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X174Scm1qVkC|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-0-557-01782-9|year=2010|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=18 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018155757/https://books.google.com/books?id=X174Scm1qVkC|url-status=live}}{{self-published source|date=May 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} from Cordoba military range, which was recovered successfully. This flight was followed by a series of subsequent flights using rats.<ref>Manfredi, Alberto N. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140606193806/http://reconquistaydefensa.org.ar/_historia/espacio/conquista.htm ARGENTINA Y LA CONQUISTA DEL ESPACIO]. reconquistaydefensa.org.ar</ref> 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 [[tortoise]]s in space were launched on [[Zond 5]] on 14 September 1968 by the Soviet Union. The [[Horsfield's tortoise]]s were sent on a [[circumlunar trajectory|circumlunar voyage]] to the Moon along with [[wine fly|wine flies]], [[meal worm]]s, and other biological specimens. These were the first inhabitants of Earth to travel around the Moon. The capsule overshot its terrestrial landing site but was successfully recovered at sea on 21 September. The animals survived but underwent weight loss. More turtles followed on the circumlunar [[Zond 6]] mission of November 1968 (ahead of the December U.S. crewed [[Apollo 8]] mission) and four turtles flew on the circumlunar [[Zond 7]] mission which flew around the Moon on August 11, 1969, three weeks after [[Apollo 11]]'s Moon walk.<ref>[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11942356/ From the pubmed site]</ref> 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,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Mission/miss/56 |title="Biosatellite III", NASA Life Sciences Data Archive |access-date=6 September 2018 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326185840/https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Mission/miss/56 |url-status=live }}</ref> but died the next day after the Biosatellite capsule was recovered in the Pacific Ocean.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19690708&printsec=frontpage "Astromonk Dies After Return"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316210511/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19690708&printsec=frontpage |date=16 March 2021 }}, ''Pittsburgh Press'', 8 July 1969, p1</ref> 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 [[Tufted capuchin|cai monkey]], native of Argentina's Misiones Province) using a [[Canopus 2|Canopus II]] rocket.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu.ar/seccion/dossier/2009/diciembre/unc_dossier_de_prensa_19-12-2009.pdf|title=Córdoba|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160331/http://www.unc.edu.ar/seccion/dossier/2009/diciembre/unc_dossier_de_prensa_19-12-2009.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015|publisher=unc.edu.ar|date=19 December 2009}}</ref> It ascended 82 kilometers<ref>[http://www.hoylauniversidad.unc.edu.ar/especiales/mono-juan "Juan, el primer astronauta argentino"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510103717/http://www.hoylauniversidad.unc.edu.ar/especiales/mono-juan |date=10 May 2013 }}. ''unc.edu.ar''.</ref> 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.
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