Yorick officially became the first monkey to survive a space flight and fortunately, would not be the last. In September 1951, a monkey named Yorick and 11 mice were recovered safely from an Aerobee missile flight that reached 236,000 feet above New Mexico’s Holloman Air Force Base. This outcome would be repeated up to Albert IV.Īfter numerous failures, NASA decided to change its approach. Unfortunately, Albert II followed his namesake and did not survive the trip, dying on impact. Hoping that the animal would survive the flight this time, NASA sent another monkey, aptly named Albert II, 83 miles up that following year. According to NASA, a “lack of fanfare and documentation made Albert an unsung hero of animal astronauts.” Albert didn’t make it back alive. The first “unmanned” launch-you might say-began in 1948 when Albert, a rhesus monkey, rode onboard a V-2 Blossom rocket from New Mexico. NASA’s early efforts to send living organisms into space and return them safely were filled with trial and error. Credit: Smithsonian Institution ‘Unsung Hero’ Enos made two orbits aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5. It’s suspected that Laika survived mere hours after reaching orbit. As a result, the spacecraft burned up on reentry the following April. The mission was rushed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution and failed as a result.Īccording to NASA, Sputnik 2 weighed considerably more than its predecessor and was not able to maintain its altitude. On November 3, 1957, Laika was sent on a one-way trip into orbit with a limited food and air supply. That title belongs to the Soviet Union’s canine cosmonaut named Laika, who rode onboard Sputnik 2. Enos’ mission served as the last before John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth in February 1962.Įven though Enos made history as the first chimp to safely orbit Earth, he wasn’t the first creature to fly that high. Fortunately, Enos completed all four tasks and splashed down safely. The chimp’s flight plan originally consisted of three orbits around Earth, but had to be limited to two due to a thruster failure. The panel put Enos through a cycle of four different tasks, some of which included either a banana-flavored snack, or a mild shock to the foot. It wouldn’t be until November 29, 1961, when Enos the chimp made his trip around Earth onboard a Mercury Atlas 5 rocket.īefore Enos could fly, he had to undergo more than 1,200 hours of training to use a psychomotor equipment panel that mimicked tasks meant for human flight control operations. The Soviets and the Americans launched dozens of missions into the early part of the decade. So, in the early 1960s, NASA sent dozens of animals into space to make sure humans could survive prolonged periods of weightlessness. had set its sights on the moon, but strapping yourself to a rocket wasn’t exactly as common as it is today. Laika died in orbit before the satellite burned up on re-entry.īoth countries continued sending animals into space into the 1960s.Įach weekday, looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos ( archive).Sixty years ago this week, humanity sent its bravest into Earth’s orbit-a chimpanzee named Enos. The most famous space dog was Laika, launched by the Soviets in Sputnik 2 on Nov. Two other dogs died on a subsequent flight. Dezik perished in a second flight, along with a dog named Lisa. The first two, Dezik and Tsygan, survived their initial flight. In the early 1950s, the Soviets sent nine dogs into space. Yorick was first monkey to live through a space flight. 20, 1951: A monkey named Yorick and 11 mice were recovered after an Aerobee missile flight of 236,000 feet at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. Albert IV, a rhesus monkey attached to monitoring instruments, suffered no ill effects - until impact, when it died. 12, 1949: The last V-2 monkey flight was launched at White Sands. When the rocket returned, the monkey died on impact. June 14, 1949: A second V-2 carried a monkey, Albert II, to altitude of 83 miles in space.Albert suffocated and died during the flight. Lack of fanfare and documentation made Albert an unsung hero of animal astronauts, according to NASA. military V-2 rocket launched from White Sands, New Mexico carrying Albert I, a rhesus monkey, into space.
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