31 January: Animals in Space Day

Today is Animals in Space Day. A wide variety of animals have been launched into space, including Monkeys and apes, Dogs, Cats, tortoises, Mice, Rats, Rabbits, fish, Frogs, Spiders, quail eggs, and insects. On Animals in Space Day, here are some notable animal space travellers:

1. The first animals sent into space were fruit flies aboard an American rocket on 20 February 1947 from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The fruit flies were recovered alive.

2. Albert II, a rhesus monkey, became the first monkey, first primate, and first mammal in space on 14 June 1949. Sadly, a parachute failure meant he didn't survive the experience.

3. On 22 July 1951, the Soviet Union launched the dogs Tsygan and Dezik into space. These two dogs were the first living higher organisms successfully recovered from a spaceflight.

4. On 3 November 1957, the second-ever orbiting spacecraft carried the first animal into orbit, the dog Laika, launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft (nicknamed 'Muttnik' in the West). Laika died during the flight, as was expected because the technology to return spacecraft from orbit had not yet been developed.

5. The first rabbit in space was Marfusha, on board a Soviet R2 rocket in July 1959.

6. France launched a cat called Félicette into space on 18 October 1963. Félicette was recovered alive after a 15-minute flight and a descent by parachute.

7. On 14 September 1968 the Soviet Union launched Zond 5, containing the first tortoises in space, which were also the first animals in deep space and the first to orbit the Moon.

8. The first spiders in space were garden spiders called Arabella and Anita, sent to Skylab in 1973.

9. In 1975 ten Newts were sent into space with part of their front limbs amputated. This was in order to study how their limbs regenerated in space which would help understand how humans might recover from space injuries.

10. Probably the most intrepid animal space travellers, however, are tardigrades, also known as water bears. In September 2007, European Space Agency discovered that these creatures were able to survive 10 days of exposure to open space with only their natural protection. There have even been tardigrades on the moon; in 2019 the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashed into the Moon during a failed landing attempt. With several thousand tardigrades on board. Initial reports suggested they could have survived the crash landing.