Animals pioneered space exploration long before humans. Despite the ethical debate surrounding their use in experiments, they have made crucial contributions to the advancement of science.
The Space Race featured dogs, monkeys, rats, frogs and even spiders, which helped to understand the effects of gravity, radiation and reentry.
Their journeys—some tragic, some successful—provided essential data to make human presence in space possible. They deserve to be remembered as a fundamental part of that achievement.
Let us then recall the missions, achievements and curiosities of the animals that explored the unknown.
1/ 🪰 1947 – Fruit flies: the first astronauts in history
Aboard a NASA V2 rocket, they were launched in New Mexico to study the effects of radiation.
🧬 Why flies? Because their DNA is surprisingly similar to that of humans (about 60%).
✅ They returned alive and intact — it was the first time that life survived outside of Earth.
2/ 🐒 1949 – Albert II: the first primate in space
He went up to 134 km in a V2 rocket. He was monitored with sensors, but died due to parachute failure.
❗ Albert I died during the launch. In total, 32 monkeys were sent into space by the USA and USSR until the 1960s.
3/ 🐕 1957 – Laika: the Soviet space martyr
First creature to orbit Earth. It was launched on Sputnik 2 with food, sensors and heart monitoring.
💔 He died within hours from overheating. The Soviets only admitted this in 2002.
🎖️ It ended up becoming the most famous animal of the space age. Today it has a statue in Moscow and is remembered as a heroine.
4/ 🐒🐒 1959 – Able and Miss Baker: the first primates to return alive
NASA mission on a Jupiter rocket. They reached an altitude of 480 km and survived reentry.
🧠 They wore miniature spacesuits and brain sensors. Miss Baker became a celebrity and even earned postage stamps.
5/ 🐭 1950s – Mice: the favorite space guinea pigs
Because they are small, cheap and easy to breed, mice have been used in dozens of space tests.
🐭 Some died on reentry. Others lived on the ISS, where the long-term effects of microgravity on the brain and muscles were studied.
6/ 🐕 1960 – Belka and Strelka: Soviet canine success
They flew for 24 hours with 40 mice, 2 rats, plants and fungi. They returned in excellent condition.
🎁 Strelka had cubs. One of them, Pushinka, was given to John F. Kennedy by the USSR — it became a symbol of space diplomacy.
7/ 🐒 1961 – Ham: the chimpanzee who “piloted” a rocket
Ham completed cognitive tasks in space by operating levers under microgravity.
🚀 His mission preceded Alan Shepard, the first American in space. Ham became a celebrity and later lived in a zoo with special care.
8/ 🐱 1963 – Félicette: the first (and only) cat in space
Launched by France, it survived a 15-minute suborbital flight.
🐾 She had electrodes on her head for neurological monitoring. Her "colleague" Felix fled before the mission. Félicette became a symbol of French science and was given a monument in 2019.
9/ 🐢 1968 – Zond 5 Turtles: Lunar Pioneers
First living beings orbiting the Moon and returning to Earth.
🛰️ flew along with bacteria, seeds and flies. The ship crashed into the Indian Ocean, but the turtles were rescued and examined — they had lost weight but were fine.
10/ 🐸 1970 – Orbiting Frog Otolith: the vestibular flight
Two frogs were sent by NASA to study the vestibular (balance) system in space.
🔬 Electrodes were used to monitor their reflexes and adaptations. After 7 days in orbit, the frogs readapted well to gravity.
11/ 🕷️ 1973 – Anita and Arabella: spiders weaving in microgravity
Project designed by a high school student, Judith Miles.
🕸️ The spiders managed to make functional, but thinner, webs. When they returned to Earth, they both died of natural causes — but they became legends at NASA.
12/ 🐟 1973 – Salt pan fish: disoriented swimming in space
Launched with 50 eggs to study 3D movements in the absence of gravity.
🔄 At first they swam in circles, but then they adapted. The study helped to understand how the nervous system deals with the lack of gravitational orientation.
13/ 🦎 1985 – Amputated salamanders: a cruel and revealing study
USSR sent 10 salamanders with amputated limbs to test regeneration in microgravity.
🧪 Result: they regenerated faster than on Earth, showing that space can speed up cellular processes — but generating ethical controversy.
14/ 🪱 2003 – Nematodes: survivors of the Columbia tragedy
When the space shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry, all the astronauts died.
💥 But the nematodes that were on board in test tubes... survived.
They are still used today in cellular longevity tests in space.
15/ 🧸 2007 – Tardigrades: the survivors of the vacuum
Microscopic, they were exposed directly to space for 10 days without a capsule.
❄️ They have withstood radiation, vacuum and extreme cold. 68% have survived. They are the only living beings known to have withstood space without protection.
16/ 🌌 Why does all this matter?
These animals answered questions that saved human lives and paved the way for manned space exploration.
They were subjects of experiments that helped to understand:
✅ Radiation
✅ Atmospheric reentry
✅ Zero gravity
✅ Cognition in flight
✅ Cell regeneration
🌍 From Earth to Infinity.
These animals are not just footnotes to science: they are part of the story of humanity in the cosmos.
🐾 Which story surprised you the most? Which one had you never heard before?