Monkeys In Space
Before humans went into space, several animals were launched into space, including numerous monkeys, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of space travel. The United States launched flights containing primate cargo primarily between 1948-1961 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 monkeys were anesthetized before lift-off. Overall thirty-two monkeys flew in the space program; none flew more than once. Numerous back-up monkeys also went through the programs but never flew. Monkeys from several species were used, including rhesus monkeys, cynomolgus monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and pig-tailed macaques. Some chimpanzees were also used.
Read more about Monkeys In Space: United States, France, Soviet Union and Later (after 1991) Russia, Argentina
Famous quotes containing the words monkeys and/or space:
“The monkeys winked too much and were afraid of snakes. The zebras,
supreme in their abnormality; the elephants with their fog-colored skin
and strictly practical appendages”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)
“But alas! I never could keep a promise. I do not blame myself for this weakness, because the fault must lie in my physical organization. It is likely that such a very liberal amount of space was given to the organ which enables me to make promises, that the organ which should enable me to keep them was crowded out. But I grieve not. I like no half-way things. I had rather have one faculty nobly developed than two faculties of mere ordinary capacity.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)