The first animals to reach space were fruit flies that the United States launched aboard captured German rockets in 1947. The first mammal to reach space was a rhesus monkey named Albert II, who flew two years later.
In these early days of rocket science, no one knew what spaceflight was like. Engineers flew animals, particularly dogs, monkeys and chimps, to learn how to launch and land living beings safely and to better understand how spaceflight might affect human bodies. The first mammal in space was Albert II, a rhesus monkey launched by NASA who reached an altitude of 83 miles on June 14, 1949. Albert was anesthetized during flight and implanted with sensors to measure his vital signs but died upon impact at re-entry.
An interesting video from a former shuttle flight director at NASA giving an extremely entertaining overview of the various animals that have gone to space and the unexpected mishaps involved.
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