Don't believe what monkeys do in space



   Many scientists believed that the human body could not last extended periods in the harsh atmosphere of space during the early years of the space race between the USA and Soviet Union. Both of those nations began launching flights that carried living animals, mostly monkeys, chimpanzees, and dogs, in order to study and assess the effects of weightlessness and space radiation. The Soviet Union explored long-term space influence on flights lasting between 5 and 14 days, 20 years after the United States mostly focused on short-term monkey test flights.


   Small rhesus monkey named Albert I was the first monkey astronaut to be sent into space. He ascended to a height of 39 miles on June 11, 1948, but he tragically perished in the air. Albert II, his successor, was able to reach space at an altitude of 83 miles before being killed by impact. More flights were conducted in the early 1950s utilizing adapted Aerobee rockets and modified German WW2 V2s. Every one of the monkeys Albert III–VI's missions experienced a malfunction of some kind, which resulted in the deaths of its passengers. Only the Albert VI made it through the landing, and even he passed away from overheating as the rescue team neared his capsule.

   The next phase of animal testing began in 1958 with the introduction of the new class of Jupiter rockets. The 1959 expedition that successfully brought back the monkeys Able and Miss Baker from space was one of those era's most successful flights. Their flight reached a height of 300 miles, and in the years that followed, American scientists and the media aggressively publicized this expedition as a major success. Monkey Able passed away during the anticipated post-mission surgery, but Miss Baker lived for another 24 years before succumbing to kidney problems in 1984.


   NASA scientists have started testing many essential components of their launching and landing apparatus in anticipation of the advent of the first human space mission. Sam and Miss Sam, two monkeys, flew missions to test the LES (launch escape system) and landing parachute systems. On January 31, 1961, the Mercury Redstone rocket carried HAM, the first chimpanzee to travel to space, on its final practice trip for Alan Shepard. Ham reached a height of 157 miles during his 16-minute flight and spent more than 6 minutes in weightlessness. Another chimpanzee was sent into space on May 5, 1961, following the successful mission of Alan B. Shepard, Jr. On November 29, 1961, Enos completed two orbits of the planet before making a successful splashdown in the ocean.

   Monkeys were used in two smaller space initiatives around the end of the 1960s. Two French monkeys succeeded in ascending to a height of almost 150 miles before safely descending to Earth. Argentina's luck was worse. One of their monkeys made it through the 60km journey, but the other one perished when the landing gear failed.


   Twelve monkeys were utilized by the Soviet Union on the "Bion" space program more than 20 years later. Their studies were more geared on prolonged exposure to space environment. Twelve squirrel monkeys were launched into orbit between 1983 and 1996: Biosatellite 3 carried Abrek and Bion, Bion 7 Verny and Gordy, Bion 8 Yerosha and Dryoma, Bion 9 Zhakonya and Zabiyaka, Bion 10 Krosh and Ivasha, and Bion 11 Lipik and Multik. Only Multik of those monkeys passed away during the intended post-landing procedure.