Animals in Space | 61 ANIMALS IN SPACE Before human beings ventured into space, American and Russian scientists launched animals with the aim of testing both their rocket engineering and the living conditions of the environment(s) which they would eventually encounter (e.g., the effects of weightlessness and risk of sun radiation) Once human missions began, astronauts typically also took animals with them so as to conduct further biological experiments, a practice that continues to this day at the International Space Station Insects and animals launched on either orbital or suborbital flights with little chance of survival have included chimps, dogs, monkeys, cats, rabbits, mice, rats, turtles, frogs, spiders, bees, crickets, silkworms, fruit flies, ants, and fish Many of them never returned Over the years many countries have issued stamps, bubblegum cards, and even cigarette packets commemorating both those that did and those that did not make it back to Earth; such acts could potentially benefit animal welfare by promoting awareness, but it is far from clear that this has ever been the aim behind them With the exception of a jar of fruit flies which was successfully flown 106 miles above the earth and parachuted back in 1947, the first five animals to be sent into space—collectively known as the Albert Series—all boarded V-2 Blossoms from White Sands, New Mexico between 1948 and 1950 Albert I was a rhesus monkey who, on June 11 1948, was launched with virtually no publicity or documentation Three days later another lab monkey, Albert II, reached an altitude of 83 miles, but died upon impact In August that same year, an anesthetized mouse, Albert III, was the first astronaut to return alive He was followed, in December 1949, by Albert IV, a monkey who died on impact after a successful flight In May 1950 the last of the Alberts, a mouse named Albert V, was launched; this mouse survived impact, having been photographed in flight Next came the animal astronauts of the Aerobee missile flights, launched from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico First up, on September 20 1951, were Yorick, another monkey, and his 11 copassengers, all mice The 236,000-foot missile flight was successful, and Yorick became known as the first monkey to survive spaceflight On May 22 1952 he was followed by Patricia and Mike (two Philippine monkeys) and Mildred and Albert (two mice), who were all placed in different positions (the last two inside a drum where they could float weightlessly) and shot up 36 miles at an average speed of 2,000 mph, in order to test various effects of rapid acceleration They were all recovered safely by parachute Meanwhile, back in the USSR, Soviet scientists began experimenting on rats, mice, rabbits and, eventually, dogs The latter were chosen with the ultimate aim of designing a human space cabin (monkeys were thought to be too fidgety) Between 1951 and 1952, the Soviets launched at least nine stray female dogs (always in pairs, some dogs flew twice) on at least six of their R-1 series rockets (the precise facts are disputed among researchers) The first pair of hounds, Dezik and Tsyganka (“Gypsy”), were launched on August 15 1951 and were successfully recovered by parachute Next came Dezik and Lisa, who in September of that year tragically died in an unsuccessful flight The third pair, Smelaya (“Bold”) and Malyshka (“Little One”), were launched