Monkeys and apes in space

thumb|upright|[[Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham, a chimpanzee, became the first ape in space during his January 31, 1961, suborbital flight aboard Mercury-Redstone 2]]

Before humans went into space in the 1960s, several other animals were launched into space, including numerous other primates, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of spaceflight. The United States launched flights containing primate passengers primarily between 1948 and 1961 with one flight in 1969 and one in 1985. France launched two monkey-carrying flights in 1967. The Soviet Union and Russia launched monkeys between 1983 and 1996. Most primates were anesthetized before lift-off.

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 macaques, crab-eating macaques, squirrel monkeys, pig-tailed macaques, and chimpanzees.

United States

thumb|[[Enos (chimpanzee)|Enos, the third great ape and only chimpanzee to orbit the Earth, being prepared for launch on Mercury-Atlas 5 (November 29, 1961)]]

thumb|Able, who flew on the first two monkey space mission in May 1959, on display at the National Air and Space Museum

right|thumb|200px|Sam, a [[rhesus macaque, flew to an altitude of 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 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.

On June 14, 1949, Albert II survived a sub-orbital V-2 flight into space (but died on impact after a parachute failure)

On September 16, 1949, Albert III died below the Kármán line, at , in an explosion of his V-2. 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

On December 4, 1959, from Wallops Island, Virginia, Sam, a rhesus macaque, flew on the Little Joe 2 in the Mercury program to high.

Chimpanzees Ham and Enos also flew in the Mercury program, with Ham becoming the first great ape or Hominidae in space. 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. Ham and Enos were among 60 chimpanzees brought to New Mexico by the US Air Force for space flight tests. Six were selected to be trained at Cape Canaveral by Tony Gentry et al.

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.

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.

The Space Shuttle Challenger 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.

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 and , 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).

Soviet Union and later Russia

The Soviet / Russian space program used only rhesus macaques in its Bion satellite program in 1980s and 1990s. 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.
Next came Bion 7 with monkeys Verny and Gordy from July 10, 1985 – July 17, 1985.
Then Dryoma and Yerosha on Bion 8 from September 29, 1987 – October 12, 1987. After returning from space Dryoma was presented to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Bion 9 with monkeys Zhakonya and Zabiyaka followed from September 15, 1989, to September 28, 1989. 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. 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. 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. Other sources give . All of these are below the international definition of space (100 km). 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.

thumb|Juan in its Canopus II cabin

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.

Iran

On January 28, 2013, AFP and Sky News reported that Iran had sent a monkey in a "Pishgam" rocket to a height of and retrieved "shipment". 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. 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."

On December 14, 2013, AFP and BBC reported that Iran again sent a monkey to space and safely returned it. Rhesus macaques Aftab and Fargam were each launched separately into space and safely returned. Researchers continue to study the effects of the space trip on their offspring.

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.

Folk musician Heather Maloney's song "Albert 1-5" is inspired by the first five macaques used in the United States space program who did not survive their space flights.

The video game Go Ape Ship! was inspired by monkey spaceflights, and features a fictional spaceship manned by an all-monkey crew. The game's mascot, Albert, is named after Albert I (monkey), the first mammal launched on a rocket.

The season 11 episode 11 of Paw Patrol launched a monkey “Captain Gordy” and accidentally Mayor Humdinger into space from Adventure Bay Space Centre. Mayor Humdinger conducted the first space walk in Paw Patrol history. A rescue mission was launched by the Air Rescue Pups under the command of Ryder.

References

External links

ape-o-naut
NPR article on the 50th anniversary of Able and Baker's flight
A humorous look at monkey astronaut names
Monkey astronauts
One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps Official Documentary Site
Argentina and the Conquest of Space (Spanish)