8.1: Non-human astronauts

This is a preliminary list of animals in space. The exact species designations are guesses in many cases, so corrections are welcome.

The major species apart from humans to have flown are dogs, chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, and squirrel monkeys. Some of the information on the Russian dogs is from Colin Burgess' Spaceflight article [8] and Novosti Kosmonavtiki.

Laika was reportedly originally called Kudryavka.

 

Life science orbital flights: large animals
Vehicle   Date   Payload   Apogee/km   Duration 

PS-2   1957 Nov 3   Canis familiaris `Laika' (f 1955-1957 Nov)   1660   1d?   Died on orbit 
Vostok-1 No. 1   1960 Jul 28   Canis familiaris `Bars' (1956?-1960 Jul 28)   <100?  0:05?   Launch abort 
    Canis familiaris `Lisichka' (1956?-1960 Jul 28)   
Vostok-1 No. 2   1960 Aug 19   Canis familiaris `Belka' (f 1957-)   324   1:02:24   First recovery 
    Canis familiaris `Strelka' (f 1958-)      
Vostok-1 No. 3   1960 Dec 1   Canis familiaris `Pchelka' (1956?-1960 Dec 2)   232   1:01:46   Died in auto destruct 
    Canis familiaris `Mouchka' (1956?-1960 Dec 2)      
Vostok-1 No. 4   1960 Dec 22   Canis familiaris `Zhemcuzhnaya' (1956?-)  100?   0:10?  Launch abort 
    Canis familiaris `Zhulka' (1956?-)    
Vostok-3A No. 1   1961 Mar 9   Canis familiaris `Chernushka' (1957?-)   239   1:42    
Vostok-3A No. 2   1961 Mar 25   Canis familiaris `Zvezdochka' (1957?-)   230   1:41    
Mercury SC9   1961 Nov 29   Pan troglodytes `Enos' (m, -1962 Nov 4)   237   3:20    
Voskhod 3KV No. 5  1966 Feb 22   Canis familiaris `Veterok'   882   21.8d 
    Canis familiaris `Ugolyok'    
Biosatellite 3   1969 Jun 29   Macaca nemestrina `Bonny' (-1969 Jul)   388   8d   Died 1d after landing 
Bion No. 6   1983 Dec 15   Macaca mulatta `Abrek'   260   5d 
    Macaca mulatta `Bion'     
Spacelab 3   1985 Apr 29   Saimiri sciureus `No. 3165'   361   7d   RAHF-P 
    Saimiri sciureus `No. 384-80'   
Bion No. 7   1985 Jul 10   Macaca mulatta `Verny'   267   7d 
    Macaca mulatta `Gordy'      
Bion No. 8   1987 Sep 29   Macaca mulatta `Drema'   383   13d 
    Macaca mulatta `Yerosha'      
Bion No. 9   1989 Sep 15   Macaca mulatta `Zhakonya'   267   14d 
    Macaca mulatta `Zabiyaka'      
Bion No. 10   1992 Dec 29   Macaca mulatta `Krosha'   374   12d 
    Macaca mulatta `Ivashi'      
Bion No. 11   1996 Dec 24   Macaca mulatta `Lapik' (1993-)   401   14d 
    Macaca mulatta `Multik' (1993-1997)       Died after landing 

Mice, rats, newts, guinea pigs, frogs, turtles, and fish have also been studied. The following table excludes invertebrates, plants, and unicellular organisms. The fundulus (killifish) are pretty marginal! Perognathus =pocket mice; Cavia = guinea pig; Testudo = tortoise. Note in particular that tortoises preceded humans to the Moon. I'm guessing that the failed early circumlunar L-1 flights also carried tortoises.

 

Life science orbital flights: small animals
Vehicle   Date   Payload   Apogee/km   Duration 

CORONA 3   1959 Jun 3   Mus (4)   100?   0:10?  Died in launch failure 
CORONA 4   1959 Jun 24   Mus (4)   100?   0:10?  Died in launch failure 
Vostok-3A No. 1   1961 Mar 9   Mus (n)   239   1:42    
    Cavia porcellus  
Vostok-3A No. 2   1961 Mar 25   Mus (n)   230   1:41    
    Cavia porcellus  
    Rana pipiens (n) 
L-1 No. 7   1968 Apr 22   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (2)?   100?   0:03   Launch failure, destroyed 
L-1 No. 9   1968 Sep 14   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (2)   Circumlunar  7d   First in deep space 
L-1 No. 12   1968 Nov 10   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (2)?   Circumlunar  7d   Destroyed on landing 
L-1 No. 13   1969 Jan 20   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (2)?   100?   0:15?  Launch abort 
L-1 No. 11   1969 Aug 7   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (4)   Circumlunar  7d   Deep space 
OFO   1970 Nov 9   Rana calestiana (2)   518   8d?   Died on orbit 
Apollo CM 114   1972 Dec 7   Perognathus longimembris (5)  Lunar orbit 12d   Deep space, 1 died 
Apollo SM-117   1973 Jul 28   Perognathus longimembris (6)   450     Died on or before reentry 
Apollo CM-117   1973 Jul 28   Fundulus heteroclitus (2)   450      
    Araneus diadematus (2)  
Bion No. 1   1973 Oct 21   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (n)   403   21.5d 
    Rattus (n)      
Bion No. 2   1974 Oct 22   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (n)   364   20.5d 
    Rattus norvegius (40)    
Apollo CM-111   1975 Jul 15   Fundulus heteroclitus (2)   233   9d    
Soyuz No. 41   1975 Nov 17   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (n)   350   90.5d 
Bion No. 3   1975 Nov 25   Rattus norvegius   384   19.5d 
    Testudo horsfieldi Gray (n)   
    Fundulus heteroclitus (n)  
Almaz OPS-3   1976 Jun 22   Testudo horsfieldi Gray (n)    
    Danio rerio (fish)  
Bion No. 4   1977 Aug 3   Rattus norvegius   396   18.6d 
Bion No. 5   1979 Sep 25   Rattus norvegius (37)   383   18.5d 
Columbia (STS-8)   1983 Aug 30   Rattus norvegius   296   7d   AEM  
Bion No. 6   1983 Dec 15   Rattus (n)   260   5d 
    (fish)  
Spacelab 3   1985 Apr 29   Rattus norvegii (24)   361   7d   RAHF-R 
Bion No. 7   1985 Jul 10   Rattus (10, plus litter)   267   7d 
    Triturus (10) (newts) 
    Danio rerio (1500) 
Discovery (STS-29)   1989 Mar 13   Rattus (4)   333   5d   AEM 
Bion No. 9   1989 Sep 15   Rattus (n)   267   14d 
    Triturus (n) (newts) 
    (fish)  
FSW-1 No. 3   1990 Oct 5   Cavia porcellus (n)   312   8d 
Soyuz 7K-STM No. 61  1990 Dec 2   Rana (Japanese tree frogs)(6)   404   8d 
Spacelab SLS 1   1991 Jun 5   Rattus norvegii (30)   298   9d RAHF  
Discovery (STS-48)   1991 Sep 12   Rattus norvegii (8)   570   6d   PARE-01 
Spacelab J   1992 Sep 12   Cyprinus carpio? (2) (Carp)   311   8d  E01-L2 
    Rana pipiens? 
Bion No. 10   1992 Dec 29   Rana pipiens (n)   374  12d  
Endeavour (STS-54)   1993 Jan 13   Rattus norvegius (n)   300   6d   PARE-02 
Discovery (STS-56)   1993 Apr 8   Rattus norvegius (n)   300   9d   PARE-03 
Spacelab SLS 2   1993 Oct 18   Rattus norvegius (24)   288   14d  RAHF 
Spacelab IML 2   1994 Jul 8   Triturus, Oryzias latipes   301   15d   AAEU 
Atlantis (STS-66)   1994 Nov 3   Rattus norvegius (10)   300   10d   PARE/NIH-R 
SFU   1995 Mar 18   Triturus (n)   475   ?   Presumably died 
Discovery (STS-70)   1995 Jul 13   Rattus norvegius (n)   302   9d   NIH-R-2 
Columbia (STS-78)   1996 Jun 20   Rattus norvegius (12)   282   16d   AEM (2) 
Bion No. 11   1996 Dec 24   Triturus (n) (newts)   401   14d 
Columbia (STS-90)   1998 Apr 17   Rattus (152), Mus (18),      
   Snails (135), Oyster toadfish (4),  
   Swordtail fish (229), Crickets (1500) 

Suborbital bio flights.

Details on the Soviet flights of 1951-1957 are partly from Jean-Jacques Serra.

Pat died in 1954; Mike in 1967, both at DC Nat. Zoo.

 

Life science suborbital flights
Vehicle   Date   Species   Apogee/km 

V-2 No 37   1948 Jun 11  Monkey (Albert)   63  
V-2 No 47   1949 Jun 14  Monkey (Albert II)   133  
V-2 No 32   1949 Sep 16  Monkey (Albert III)  1?  
V-2 No 31   1949 Dec 08  Monkey (Albert IV)   127  
V-2 No 51   1950 Aug 31  Mouse (Albert V)  
Aerobee USAF-12  1951 Apr 18  Monkey   61; died on impact 
R-1V   1951 Jul 22   Canis `Zhegan', `Dezik'   100  
R-1B   1951 Jul 29  Canis x 2  100  
R-1B   1951 Aug 15   Canis x 2  100  
R-1V   1951 Aug 19  Canis x 2  100  
R-1B   1951 Aug 28   Canis x 2  100  
R-1B   1951 Sep 2   Canis x 2  100  
Aerobee USAF-19  1951 Sep 20   Monkey (Yorick aka Albert VI) + 11 mice   71  
Aerobee USAF-26  1952 May 22   2 Phillipine monkeys (Pat and Mike) + 2 mice   26  
R-1D   1954 Jul 2   Canis `Lyza', `Ryjik'  100 
R-1D   1954 Jul 7   Canis   100 
R-1D   1954 Jul 26   Canis   100 
R-1E   1955 Jan 25   Canis   100 
R-1E   1955 Feb 5   Canis   100 
R-1E   1955 Nov 4   Canis   100 
R-1E   1956 May 14   Canis   100 
R-1E   1956 May 31   Canis   100 
R-1E   1956 Jun 7   Canis   100 
V-2A (R-2)   1957 May 16   Canis `Ryjaya', `Damka'  220 
V-2A   1957   Canis   220 
V-2A   1957   Canis   220 
V-2A   1957   Canis   220 
V-2A   1957 Aug 31   Canis   220 
Thor Able   1958 Apr 23   Mouse (Mia)   Destroyed  
Thor Able   1958 Jul 10   Mouse (Mia II)   45 min, died  
Thor Able   1958 Jul 24   Mouse (Wickie)   Lost at sea  
V-5A (R-5)   1958 Aug 27   Canis `Belyanka', `Pestraya'   450 
V-5A (R-5)   1958 Sep 17   Canis x 2   450 
V-5A (R-5)   1958 Oct 31   Canis x 2   450 
AM-13 Bioflight 1   1958 Dec 13   Saimiri `Gordo'  
AM-18 Bioflight 2   1959 May 28   Macaca mulatta `Able'   600? 
    Saimiri `Baker' 
V-2A   1959 Jul 2   Canis `Otvazhnaya', `Shezhinka'; Lepus `Marfusha'  220 
V-2A   1959 Jul 10   Canis `Otvazhnaya', ?   220 
AM-23 Bioflight 3   1959 Sep 15   14 mice   Destroyed 
LJ-2   1959 Dec 4   Macaca mulatta 'Sam'   85  
LJ-1B   1960 Jan 21   Macaca mulatta 'Miss Sam'   15 
V-2A   1960 Jun 15   Canis `Otvazhnaya', `Malek'; Lepus `Zvezdochka'  220 
V-2A   1960 Jun 24   Canis `Otvazhnaya', `Yemchugnaya'   220 
V-2A   1960 Sep 16   Canis x 2   220 
V-2A   1960 Sep 22   Canis `Otvazhnaya', ?   220 
Atlas 71D   1960 Oct 13   Mus `Amy', `Sally', `Mo'   (0:20) 
MR-2   1961 Jan 31   Pan troglodytes `Ham'   253 
Veronique AGI24   1961 Feb 22   Rattus `Hector'   110  
SP Pod 13   1961 Nov 10   Saimiri (squirrel monkey) `Goliath' (-1961)   1  
SP Pod 6   1961 Dec 10   Macaca mulatta `Scatback'   500? 
Veronique AGI37   1962 Oct 15   Rattus `Castor'    
Veronique AGI36   1962 Oct 18   Rattus `Pollux' 
Veronique AGI47   1963 Oct 18   Felis catus `Felicette' 
Veronique AGI50   1963 Oct 24   Felis catus (died on impact) 
T-7A-S   1964 Jul 19   Rats and mice 
T-7A-S   1965 Jun 1   Rats and mice 
T-7A-S   1965 Jun 5   Rats and mice 
T-7A-S2   1966 Jul 14  Canis `Xiao Bao' (m.)   100 
T-7A-S2   1966 Jul 28   Canis `Shan Shan' (f.)    
Vesta 4   1967 Mar 7   Macaca nemestrina `Martine'   233 
Vesta 5   1967 Mar 13   Macaca nemestrina `Pierette'   240?