In July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon for the first time during the Apollo 11 mission. It is the first human landing on an exoplanet-satellite-asteroid. Note that Michael Collins was orbiting the moon in the Apollo 11 spacecraft at that time. However, Chandrajoy's success did not come overnight. Many animals had to die for this. Several animals have been sent into space before humans first went into space. After this several animals have been sent into space before space missions. Basically, this work has been done many times to test the habitability of animals in space. That is, these animals were called 'guinea pigs'. Most of them are dead. Let's get to know those animals.
1. Fly
The first animal was sent into space on July 6, 1946. That animal was a small fly. To test how cosmic radiation affects humans, the US space agency NASA sent flies into space. A V-2 flight rocket salvaged from the Nazis at the end of World War II is loaded with flies. Then they are sent 109 kilometers above the surface. What we understand by space begins from this distance. However, on February 20, 1947, the flies were brought back to Earth. After opening the capsule, the flies are found alive. Radioactivity also found no effect. These were the first animals to go into space.
2. Monkeys and apes
So far 32 monkeys and apes have been sent into space. These include rhesus monkeys, pig-tail monkeys and chimpanzees. Among them, Albert II, a rhesus monkey, successfully went into space for the first time. In 1949, the monkey went 134 km above the surface. But the parachute malfunctioned and the monkey died on the landing. A year earlier, in 1948, the first Albert the monkey died of suffocation during a rocket launch. Then on January 31, 1961, NASA sent a chimpanzee named Ham into space. Ham returned safely to Earth and lived until 1983.
3. Rat
Mice have long been used to better understand the effects of space travel on the human body. Recently, NASA has published a research paper on mice living in the International Space Station. Research has shown that rats on the International Space Station can quickly adapt to microgravity. The first rat was sent into space in 1950. The rat reached an altitude of 137 km. But it died due to parachute failure.
4. Dog
One of the most popular animals in space is the dog. The name is Laika. Probably everyone has heard the name of this dog at least once. The former Soviet Union sent several dogs into space. The first of these is the Leica. The dog went into space in 1957. The dog was picked up from the streets of Moscow and trained. Because, street dogs can deal with more adverse situations. That is why an ordinary street dog is sent instead of a famous dog. Earlier dogs sent into space did not orbit the Earth. Laika was the first animal to orbit the earth. But Leica never came back. The dog was sent off with just one meal, seven days of oxygen. The Soviet government claims that Leica survived for 7 days in space. But many scientists believe that Lika will die in just 5 hours if the capsule is overheated.
5. Turtle
Surely everyone knows the story of the hare and the tortoise. The slow turtle won the race. But the story of the turtle does not end here. The turtle has gone to space. In 1968, the race between the United States and the Soviet Union to send a man to the moon began. At that time, the Soviet Union conducted the Jund 5 mission with soil, seed samples, some insects and two turtles. After going around the earth once, the two turtles come back to the earth. The spacecraft was supposed to land in Kazakhstan. But the capsule changed course and ended up falling into the Indian Ocean. Fortunately the two turtles were still alive. But the weight was reduced by 10 percent.
6. Frog
Research to send frogs into space began in 1959. However, frogs were sent into space in 1970. NASA sent two frogs to the service. Various devices were attached to the frog's body to carry out experiments. At the end of the study, it was found that after 6 days the frogs had adapted to the space environment.
7. Spider
After the first man on the moon in 1969, more emphasis was placed on sending animals into space. NASA plans to send more animals into space to understand how microgravity affects animals. In 1973, two spiders named Anita and Arabola were sent into space. Scientists wanted to test whether spiders can weave webs in space. The idea to do this test came from the head of Massachusetts high school student Judith Miles. He passed the test with two spiders. But the web woven in space was slightly finer than on Earth.
8. Fish
In 1973, a fish named Mamichog was sent into space. There were 50 fish eggs. This fish was from the salt marsh. Then in 2012, the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) sent another fish named Medaka into space. The fish in the aquarium had food and an LED light. The purpose of the mission was to test whether fish can survive naturally in space and how radiation affects fish. Experiments have shown that medaka fish have decreased bone density after going into space. In the end, their speed also decreases. Apart from this, some changes in physiology have also been seen. As microgravity affects humans, it had the same effect on these fish.
9. Turkigrade
In 2007, the first Turkigrad was sent into space. It is an invertebrate. They are also known as water bears. To see with the help of a microscope. This animal has the ability to survive in any environment of the world. Turkigrade was sent into space to test how such a creature would survive in space. After returning from space, 68 percent of Turkigrades survived cosmic radiation.
10. Nematoda
Columbia Space Shuttle was launched in 2003. The mission was provided with 80 scientific experiments and necessary equipment to be tested with 7 astronauts. But unfortunately there is an accident on the way back to earth. 7 astronauts died. But a group of nematodes (roundworms) survived this extreme heat. These nematodes are often sent into space for research.