Over thirty-two non-human primates flew in the space program; none flew more than once. Numerous backup primates also went through the programs but never flew. Monkeys and non-human apes from several species were used, including rhesus macaque, crab-eating macaque, squirrel monkeys, pig-tailed macaques, and chimpanzees.
United States
Enos, the third great ape and only chimpanzee to orbit the Earth, being prepared for launch on Mercury-Atlas 5 (November 29, 1961)Able, who flew on the first two monkey space mission in May 1959, on display at the National Air and Space MuseumSam, a rhesus macaque, flew to an altitude of 88km (55mi) on December 4, 1959, on a NASA rocket, Little Joe 2
The first primate launched into high subspace, although not a space flight, was Albert I, a rhesus macaque, who on June 18, 1948, rode a rocket flight to over 63km (39mi) in Earth's atmosphere on a V-2 rocket. Albert I died of suffocation during the flight and may actually have died in the cramped space capsule before launch.[1][2][3]
On June 14, 1949, Albert II survived a sub-orbital V-2 flight into space (but died on impact after a parachute failure)[2] to become the first monkey, first primate, and first mammal in space. His flight reached 134km (83mi) – past the Kármán line of 100km which designates the beginning of space.[4]
On September 16, 1949, Albert III died below the Kármán line, at 35,000 feet (10.7km), in an explosion of his V2. On December 8, Albert IV, the second mammal in space, flew on the last monkey V-2 flight and died on impact after another parachute failure[2] after reaching 130.6km. Alberts, I, II, and IV were rhesus macaques while Albert III was a crab-eating macaque.
Monkeys later flew on Aerobee rockets. On April 18, 1951, a monkey, possibly called Albert V, died due to parachute failure. Yorick, also called Albert VI, along with 11 mouse crewmates, reached 236,000ft (72km, 44.7mi) and survived the landing, on September 20, 1951, the first monkey to do so (the dogs Dezik and Tsygan had survived a trip to space in July of that year), although he died two hours later. Two of the mice also died after recovery; all of the deaths were thought to be related to stress from overheating in the sealed capsule in the New Mexico sun while awaiting the recovery team.[2] Albert VI's flight surpassed the 50-mile boundary the U.S. used for spaceflight but was below the international definition of space. Patricia and Mike, two cynomolgus monkeys, flew on May 21, 1952, and survived, but their flight was only to 26 kilometers.[citation needed]
On December 13, 1958, Gordo, also called Old Reliable, a squirrel monkey, survived being launched aboard Jupiter AM-13 by the US Army.[4] After flying for over 1,500 miles and reaching a height of 310 miles (500 km) before returning to Earth, Gordo landed in the South Atlantic and was killed due to mechanical failure of the parachute recovery system in the rocket nose cone.[4]
On May 28, 1959, aboard the JUPITER AM-18, Miss Able, a rhesus macaque, and Miss Baker, a squirrel monkey from Peru, flew a successful mission. Able was born at the Ralph Mitchell Zoo in Independence, Kansas. They traveled in excess of 16,000km/h, and withstood 38 g (373m/s2). Able died June 1, 1959, while undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode, from a reaction to the anesthesia. Baker became the first monkey to survive the stresses of spaceflight and the related medical procedures. Baker died November 29, 1984, at the age of 27 and is buried on the grounds of the United States Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Able was preserved, and is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. Their names were taken from the 1943–1955 US military phonetic alphabet.[5]
On December 4, 1959, from Wallops Island, Virginia, Sam, a rhesus macaque, flew on the Little Joe 2 in the Mercury program to 53 miles high.[4] On January 21, 1960, Miss Sam, also a rhesus macaque, followed, on Little Joe 1B although her flight was only to 8mi (13km) in a test of emergency procedures.[6]
Chimpanzees Ham and Enos also flew in the Mercury program, with Ham becoming the first great ape or Hominidae in space.[7] The names "Sam" and "Ham" were acronyms. Sam was named in homage to the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and the name "Ham" was taken from Holloman Aerospace Medicine at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.[8] Ham and Enos were among 60 chimpanzees brought to New Mexico by the U.S. Air Force for space flight tests. Six were selected to be trained at Cape Canaveral by Tony Gentry et al.[9]
Goliath, a squirrel monkey, died in the explosion of his Atlas rocket on November 10, 1961. A rhesus macaque called Scatback flew a sub-orbital flight on December 20, 1961, but was lost at sea after landing.[10]
Bonny, a pig-tailed macaque, flew on Biosatellite 3, a mission which lasted from June 29 to July 8, 1969. This was the first multi-day monkey flight but came after longer human spaceflights were common. He died within a day of landing.[11]
Spacelab 3 on the Space Shuttle flight STS-51-B featured two squirrel monkeys named No. 3165 and No. 384-80. The flight was from April 29 to May 6, 1985.[12]
France
France launched a pig-tailed macaque named Martine on a Vesta rocket on March 7, 1967, and another named Pierrette on March 13. These suborbital flights reached 243km (151mi) and 234km (145mi), respectively. Martine became the first monkey to survive more than a couple of hours after flying above the international definition of the edge of space (Ham and Enos, launched earlier by the United States, were chimpanzees).[13]
Soviet Union and Russia
The Soviet /Russian space program used only rhesus macaques in its Bion satellite program in 1980s and 1990s.[14] The names of the monkeys began with sequential letters of the Russian alphabet (А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З...). The animals all survived their missions but for a single fatality in post-flight surgery, after which the program was canceled.
The first monkeys launched by Soviet space program, Abrek and Bion, flew on Bion 6. They remained aloft from December 14, 1983 – December 20, 1983.[15]
Next came Bion 7 with monkeys Verny and Gordy from July 10, 1985 – July 17, 1985.[16]
Then Dryoma and Yerosha on Bion 8 from September 29, 1987 – October 12, 1987.[17] After returning from space Dryoma was presented to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.[citation needed]
Bion 9 with monkeys Zhakonya and Zabiyaka followed from September 15, 1989, to September 28, 1989.[18] The two took the space endurance record for monkeys at 13 days, 17 hours in space.
Monkeys Ivasha and Krosh flew on Bion 10 from December 29, 1992, to January 7, 1993.[19] Krosh produced offspring, after rehabilitation upon returning to Earth.
Lapik and Multik were the last monkeys in space until Iran launched one of its own in 2013. The pair flew aboard Bion 11 from December 24, 1996, to January 7, 1997.[20] Upon return, Multik died while under anesthesia for US biopsy sampling on January 8. Lapik nearly died while undergoing the identical procedure. No follow-up research has been conducted to determine whether these two incidents, together with the 1959 loss of the US monkey Able in post-flight surgery, contraindicate the administration of anesthesia during or shortly after spaceflights. Further US support of the Bion program was canceled.[20]
Argentina
On December 23, 1969, as part of the 'Operación Navidad' (Operation Christmas), Argentina launched Juan (a tufted capuchin, native to Argentina's Misiones Province) using a two-stage Rigel 04 rocket. It ascended perhaps up to 82 kilometers and then was recovered successfully.[21][22][23] Other sources give 30, 60 or 72 kilometers.[24][25] All of these are below the international definition of space (100km). Later, on February 1, 1970, the experience was repeated with a female monkey of the same species using an X-1 Panther rocket. Although it reached a higher altitude than its predecessor, it was lost after the capsule's parachute failed.[citation needed]
China
The PRC spacecraft Shenzhou 2 launched on January 9, 2001. It is rumored that inside the reentry module (precise information is lacking due to the secrecy surrounding China's space program) a monkey, dog, and rabbit rode aloft in a test of the spacecraft's life support systems. The SZ2 reentry module landed in Inner Mongolia on January 16. No images of the recovered capsule appeared in the press, leading to the widespread inference that the flight ended in failure. According to press reports citing an unnamed source, a parachute connection malfunction caused a hard landing.[26]
Iran
On January 28, 2013, AFP and Sky News reported that Iran had sent a monkey in a "Pishgam" rocket to a height of 72 miles (116km) and retrieved "shipment".[27][28] Iranian media gave no details on the timing or location of the launch, while details that were reported raised questions about the claim. Pre-flight and post-flight photos clearly showed different monkeys.[29] The confusion was due to the publishing of an archive photo from 2011 by the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA). According to Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer, "They just mixed that footage with the footage of the 2013 successful launch."[30]
On December 14, 2013, AFP and BBC reported that Iran again sent a monkey to space and safely returned it.[31][32] Rhesus macaques Aftab (2013.01.28) and Fargam (2013.12.14) were each launched separately into space and safely returned. Researchers continue to study the effects of the space trip on their offspring.[33][34]
In popular culture
The 2014 animated series All Hail King Julien: Exiled features a horde of highly intelligent chimpanzee cosmonauts, whom they claim the USSR abandoned on a Madagascar islet following the end of the Space Race. Although faithful to "Mother Russia", the chimpanzees vow to take revenge on humankind for declaring their obsolescence.
Ham, a chimpanzee also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was the first great ape launched into space. On January 31, 1961, Ham flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury.
The rhesus macaque, colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or grey in colour, it is 47–53 cm (19–21 in) in length with a 20.7–22.9 cm (8.1–9.0 in) tail and weighs 5.3–7.7 kg (12–17 lb). It is native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia and has the widest geographic range of all non-human primates, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and habitats.
Animals in space originally served to test the survivability of spaceflight, before human spaceflights were attempted. Later, many species were flown to investigate various biological processes and the effects microgravity and space flight might have on them. Bioastronautics is an area of bioengineering research that spans the study and support of life in space. To date, seven national space programs have flown non-human animals into space: the United States, Soviet Union, France, Argentina, China, Japan and Iran.
The Little Joe 2 was a test of the Mercury space capsule, carrying the rhesus monkey Sam close to the edge of space. He was sent to test the space equipment and the adverse effects of space on humans.
During the 1950s and 1960s the Soviet space program used dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. These dogs, including Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth, were surgically modified to provide the necessary information for human survival in space. The Soviet space program typically used female dogs due to their anatomical compatibility with the spacesuit. Similarly, they used mix-breed dogs due to their apparent hardiness.
Enos was a chimpanzee launched into space by NASA, following his predecessor Ham. He was the only non-human primate to orbit the Earth, and the third hominid to do so after cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov. Enos's flight occurred on November 29, 1961.
Kosmos 1667, or Bion 7 was a 1985 biomedical research mission satellite involving scientists from nine countries. It was part of the Bion program. This mission was the scientific participation of nine countries.
Kosmos 1514 or Bion 6 was a biomedical research mission that was launched on 14 December 1983, at 07:00:00 UTC. It was part of the Bion programme.
Bion 8 or Kosmos 1887 was a Bion satellite.
Kosmos 2229, or Bion 10 was a biomedical research mission involving in ten countries plus European Space Agency (ESA). A Russian spacecraft, was launched by a Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was part of the Bion programme.
NASA's Biosatellite program was a series of three uncrewed artificial satellites to assess the effects of spaceflight, especially radiation and weightlessness, on living organisms. Each was designed to reenter Earth's atmosphere and be recovered at the end of its mission.
Miss Baker was a squirrel monkey who in 1959 became, along with female rhesus macaque Able, one of the first two animals launched into space by the United States who safely returned.
Pishgam is an Iranian 300-kilogramme space capsule and associated rocket, which launched containing rhesus monkey and is part of a series of Iranian rocket launches containing biological cargo intended as precursors to human spaceflight.
German V-2 rockets captured by the United States Army at the end of World War II were used as sounding rockets to carry scientific instruments into the Earth's upper atmosphere, and into sub-orbital space, at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) for a program of atmospheric and solar investigation through the late 1940s. Rocket trajectory was intended to carry the rocket about 100 miles (160 km) high and 30 miles (48 km) horizontally from WSMR Launch Complex 33. Impact velocity of returning rockets was reduced by inducing structural failure of the rocket airframe upon atmospheric re-entry. More durable recordings and instruments might be recovered from the rockets after ground impact, but telemetry was developed to transmit and record instrument readings during flight.
Fargam was the name of a male Rhesus macaque monkey launched into space by Iran. This was Iran's second successful and third overall attempt at launching a monkey into space, their first attempt in 2011 had failed as the animal died in space. The news was released by Iranian state TV which also showed footage of Fargam strapped inside the rocket. Former president Rouhani congratulated Iranian Scientists afterwards, touting it as a "long step in getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space".
Félicette was a stray Parisian cat that became the first feline launched into space on 18October 1963 as part of the French space program. She was one of 14 female cats trained for spaceflight. The cats had electrodes implanted onto their skulls to monitor their neurological activity throughout the flight. During the flight, electrical impulses were applied to the brain and a leg to stimulate responses. The capsule was recovered 13 minutes after the rocket was ignited. Most of the data from the mission were of good quality, and Félicette survived the flight but was euthanised two months later for the examination of her brain.
Biosatellite 3, also known as Biosat 3 and Biosatellite D, was a third and final mission in the Biosatellite program. It was launched on a Delta-N rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 29, 1969,
Albert II was a male rhesus macaque monkey who was the first primate and first mammal to travel to outer space. He flew from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, United States, to an altitude of 83 miles aboard a U.S. V-2 sounding rocket on June 14, 1949. Albert died upon landing after a parachute failure caused his capsule to strike the ground at high speed. Albert's respiratory and cardiological data were recorded up to the moment of impact.
Albert I was a rhesus macaque monkey and the first mammal launched on a rocket on June 18, 1948. The launch was staged at White Sands Proving Ground, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Albert I, a nine-pound monkey, was anesthetized and placed inside the rocket's crew capsule in the nose of the V-2 rocket. The flight did not reach outer space.
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