Animals in Space essays

Animals in Space essays Almost everyone knows about the great adventures that have lead man to discover various planets, learn about the solar system, and even set foot on the moon. However, has anyone recognized the creatures, which went into space first, to make sure it was safe for humans? Before astronauts came astro-animals. Since the 1950s, more and more animals have been traveled in space. Today, almost all shuttle missions carry rats, mice, flies, and even jellyfish for scientific experiments. Other animals that have been sent into space include dogs and monkeys. The first animal ever to be sent into space was on September 3, 1957; a Russian dog named Liaka. She was sent in the Russian spacecraft Sputnik II, meaning fellow traveler. Unfortunately, during the mission, Liaka died of asphyxiation. In 1960, Russia sent more animals into space. On the Sputnik 5, two dogs; Belka and Strelka were launched, as well as 40 mice and two rats. After spending a day in orbit, both dogs were safely returned home, later to deliver a litter of puppies. On December 13, 1958 the United States army launched the squirrel monkey Gordo on the Jupiter AM-13. This expedition provided a great deal of information that would be useful for the medical research for space flights with people on board. Gordo was doing fine on the flight, but he died in space because the flotation mechanism of the rockets nose failed, and he couldnt be recovered. In 1961, the chimpanzee Ham was sent into space on the Mercury-Redstone 2. The purpose of this mission was to test the capabilities of operation of the spacecraft capsule systems in the space environment. Ham safely survived the mission. While some animals were sent into space merely to go up and occasionally come back, monkeys and chimpanzees were actually trained to do work while in space. In cert...