10 Animals That Have Been to Space

Since 1948, 32 monkeys and apes, including rhesus macaques and chimpanzees, have been sent to space. Ham, a chimpanzee, was the first great ape in space, launched by NASA in 1961 and returned safely.

Mice have been used extensively to study space travel's effects on the human body. The first mouse went into space in 1950, reaching 137km altitude, but unfortunately died due to a rocket malfunction.

The Soviet Union sent several dogs into space, with Laika being the most famous. In 1957, Laika became the first animal to orbit Earth but sadly died a few hours after the launch due to overheating.

In 1968, two steppe tortoises orbited the moon on the Soviet Zond 5 mission. They returned to Earth after six days, having lost some weight but surviving the journey, contributing to lunar exploration research.

Frogs have been part of space research since 1959. In 1970, NASA's Orbiting Frog Otolith mission studied the effects of weightlessness on bullfrogs' balance systems, revealing their adaptability to microgravity.

In 1973, garden spiders Anita and Arabella were sent to space to study web-spinning in microgravity. They successfully spun webs, although finer than on Earth, providing insights into motor responses in space.

The mummichog minnow was the first fish in space in 1973, helping NASA study microgravity effects. In 2012, Japan sent medaka fish to the ISS to research radiation impact, bone degradation, and muscle wastage.

Tardigrades, or water bears, were the first animals to survive space exposure in 2007. They endured extreme conditions, including radiation and dehydration, with 68% surviving the 10-day orbit around Earth.

Nematodes survived the 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster, enduring extreme heat upon re-entry. These roundworms are now regularly used in space research to study the effects of space travel on living organisms.