22nd May 2011 0 Comments
Last week, the Space Shuttle Endeavour left Earth for the final time carrying banana spiders and fruit flies to the International Space Station. They are the latest in a long line of animal astronauts. Literally thousands of animals have been to space including thirty two monkeys, two cats and at least twenty seven dogs. Many have orbited the Earth and worms, mice and tortoises have even orbited the Moon.
These days, most space-faring animals survive their flights and suffer minimal harm and distress but this was not always the case. In the early days of space travel, when rocket science was still in its infancy, no one knew what the effects of extreme acceleration, cosmic radiation and weightlessness would have upon a living creature. As a consequence, many died including eleven American monkeys, one French cat and seven Russian dogs. Fatalities became far less common after 1961 when people travelled to space for the first time. Animals, plants and bacteria are still sent into orbit. It is important to learn how all types of life can remain healthy in space if we are ever to land on Mars or colonise the Solar System.
American Monkeys
As well as being one of the latest species to be sent into space, fruit flies were also the first. Along with rye and cotton seeds, they were launched by the US Air Force in 1947. This was just two years after World War II and less than fifty years since the Wright brothers built the first aeroplane. They were recovered alive and a year later the US Air Force launched the first mammal, an anaesthetised rhesus macaque monkey called Albert, towards space. Unfortunately, Albert died of suffocation before he reached the hundred kilometre mark internationally accepted as the beginning of space. Albert II became the first monkey to pass this barrier in 1949. Unlike Albert I, he survived the flight but died on impact. Six Alberts were launched into space between 1948 and 1951 and all of them died as a result.
In 1952, Patricia and Mike became the first monkeys to survive a rocket launch, although they only travelled twenty six kilometres. They went on to live at the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. Between 1958, the year that NASA was formed, and 1961, the year that the first human travelled to space, the Americans launched at least seventeen mice and five more monkeys into space. All of the mice and at least three of the monkeys died as a consequence. In January of 1961, Ham became the first chimpanzee in space. After a successful landing, he went on to join Patricia and Mike at Washington Zoo. In November of that year, Enos became the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth. He landed successfully but unfortunately died of an unrelated illness shortly after.
Soviet Dogs
Whilst the US Air Force experimented with monkeys, the USSR Academy of Sciences preferred to use dogs. This was because they thought they coped better during long periods of confinement and inactivity. Between 1951 and 1957, the Soviet Union launched at least nine dogs into space, five of which died. All of the dogs were all stray female mongrels. Females were chosen as they do not need extra room to cock their leg when urinating. As part of their training the dogs were put in centrifuges which simulated the high Gs of take off and were confined to small boxes for up to twenty days at a time.
In 1957, Sputnik 1 became the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, the second, Sputnik 2 followed within a month carrying Laika, the first animal to be put into orbit. Laika's real name was Kudryavka but the international press found that hard to pronounce and so they gave her a nickname which means 'Barker' in Russian.
Laika was destined to die in space as no one knew how to bring her home alive. At the time, the Soviet Union announced that Laika had died painlessly after spending seven days in space. The truth - that she had died on the first day when her capsule overheated - did not come out until 2002. Oleg Gazenko, the Soviet scientist who he selected and trained Laika expressed his regret. In 1998 he stated; "The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of a dog."
At least sixteen more dogs were launched between 1958 and 1966 but fatality rates dramatically decreased, with only two dying. The first animals returned successfully from orbit in 1960, these included dogs Belka and Strelka, a rabbit, forty mice, two rats and fruit flies.
All of these sacrifices taught us that mammals could survive the effects of space travel. Less than three months after the US Air Force successfully launched our closest living relative, the Chimpanzee, both countries felt confident enough to try launching a person into space. Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first in April 1961 and American astronaut Alan Sheppard followed less than a month later.
French Cats and other Animals
In the 1960s, more countries attempted space flight with the French launching two cats, one of which died, and the Chinese launching two dogs, Xiao Bao and Shan Shan, who both survived. After proving that humans could safely return from space, both America and the Soviet Union set their sights on the Moon.
The Soviet Union wanted to better understand the prolonged effects of cosmic radiation and so sent two dogs, Veterok and Ugolyok, into orbit for three weeks in 1966. They returned successfully and in 1968, the Soviets launched worms, flies and tortoises, as well as plants, seeds and bacteria into orbit around the Moon. They were all safely returned three days later.
In June of 1969, NASA launched a monkey named Bonny into space, he was supposed to be there for thirty days but was recalled after only eight because of his deteriorating health and died shortly after landing. This did not prevent Apollo 11 from launching less than a month later, successfully transporting Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon. In 1972, Apollo 16 carried roundworms to the Moon and later that year, Apollo 17 carried five mice.
After the race to the Moon had been won, both countries turned their attention to building space stations where they could conduct long term biological experiments on all forms of life. The Soviet Union utilised the Salyut program, which consisted of nine single-module stations launched between 1971 and 1982. The first American space station, known as Skylab, orbited from 1973 to 1979. These were followed by Mir which remained in orbit from 1986 to 2001 and the International Space Station which launched in 1998 and should remain in orbit until at least 2015.
NASA sent the first fish and two cross spiders, Anita and Arabella, to Skylab in 1973. Both spiders managed to spin webs in space, though they took slightly longer than normal. The fish swum in circles with no gravitational force to orientate them, although if a light was present they would swim towards it.
The Soviet Union launched a series of biosatellites between 1966 and 1996. Biosatellites are satellites designed with the sole purpose of conducting biological experiments in space. Many of these missions involved international collaboration, with the first American-Soviet collaboration taking place in 1975. In 1985, a collaborative mission involving nine countries sent the first newts into space, where they had parts of their limbs amputated in order to see how quickly people might recover from injuries in space. Their limbs grew back much faster than expected.
Animals were better cared for in the 1990s, after NASA appointed their first Chief Veterinary Officer, Joe Bielitzki. Bielitzki established a code of ethical guidelines which states that all of NASA's research animals should experience a minimal amount of pain and distress. Animals should only be sent into space when an alternative experiment cannot be conducted on Earth, as few animals as possible should be sent and 'lower' life forms such as insects should always be used when appropriate.
These may be self imposed rules, but NASA is also required to abide by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act and the Public Health Services Policy Act which sets minimum standards for the care of research animals. Not every country has laws to protect animals used in experiments but it is hoped that international projects like the Space Station will provide a reason to develop international standards.
Educational projects
In the last few years, NASA has used 'lower' lifeforms in simple experiments which have been followed by school children around the world. In 2009, NASA launched two species of caterpillar to the International Space Station in order to see how they would develop without gravity. Experiments were designed for children of all ages and almost three thousand classrooms raised caterpillars of their own which were compared to those in space. The space bound caterpillars successfully changed into butterflies, although their wings took over twice as long to dry without gravity.
The latest projects involve two banana spiders and a number of fruit flies and plants. Banana spiders first travelled to space in 2009, where they spun more symmetrical webs than they do on Earth. Baby spiders are being used in this experiment in order to see if their webs change over time as they adapt to their environment. The movement of fruit flies and the directional growth of plants are also being studied. Some plants do not respond to gravity but most depend on it to determine which way their roots should grow. During this mission, scientists hope to find out if they can control the directional growth of roots using different frequencies of light or mechanical manipulation. These experiments are due to last forty five days and anyone can download a teacher's guide containing background information, lesson plans and activities by clicking here or here.
Related articles; Earth and Moon and Exploration of the Moon (1900s).
The Star Garden
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