Sam the rhesus monkey flew to an apogee of 88 km in 1959. (NASA)

Before humans were launched into space, several animals, including numerous monkeys, were used to investigate the biological effects of space travel. The United States launched monkey flights primarily between 1948 and 1961 with one flight in 1969 and one in 1985. France launched two monkey space flights in 1967. The Soviet Union and Russia launched monkeys between 1983 and 1996. Most monkeys were anesthetized before lift-off. Thirty-two monkeys flew in the space program, each had only one mission. Numerous back-up monkeys also went through the programs but never flew. Monkeys from several species were used, including rhesus, cynomolgus, squirrel, and Philippine monkeys as well as pigtailed macaques. Rhesus monkey, Sam who rode a Little Joe - Mercury test flight. ... Rhesus monkey, Sam who rode a Little Joe - Mercury test flight. ... Human spaceflight is space exploration with a human crew, and possibly passengers (in contrast to dog-manned space missions, which are remotely-controlled or robotic space probes). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... For other uses, see Monkey (disambiguation). ... Biology (from Greek βίος λόγος, see below) is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space. ... Binomial name Macaca mulatta Zimmermann, 1780 The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), often called the Rhesus Monkey, is one of the best known species of Old World monkeys. ... Binomial name Macaca fascicularis Raffles, 1821 The Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is an arboreal macaque native to South-East Asia. ... Type Species Simia sciurea Linnaeus, 1758 Species Saimiri oerstedii Saimiri sciureus Saimiri ustus Saimiri boliviensis Saimiri vanzolini The squirrel monkeys are the New World monkeys of the genus Saimiri. ...

United States

The first monkey astronaut was Albert, a rhesus monkey, who on June 11, 1948 rode to over 63 km (39 miles) on a V2 rocket. Albert died of suffocation during the flight. Binomial name Macaca mulatta Zimmermann, 1780 The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), often called the Rhesus monkey, is one of the best known species of Old World monkeys. ... June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... German test launch. ...

Albert was followed by Albert II who survived the V2 flight but died on impact on June 14, 1949. Albert II became the first monkey in space as his flight reached 134 km (83 miles). Albert III died at 35,000 feet (10.7 km) in an explosion of his V2 on September 16, 1949. Albert IV on the last monkey V2 flight died on impact on December 8 that year. Albert II and Albert IV were rhesus monkeys while Albert III was a cynomolgus monkey. June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Binomial name Macaca fascicularis Raffles, 1821 The Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) is an arboreal macaque native to South-East Asia. ...

Monkeys later flew on Aerobee rockets. On April 18, 1951, a monkey, possibly called Albert V died due to parachute failure. Yorick, also called Albert VI, along with 11 mice crewmates became the first animals to survive spaceflight but he died 2 hours after landing. Patricia and Mike, two Philippine monkeys, flew on May 21, 1952 and survived but their flight was only to 26 kilometers, below the definition of space at 100 kilometers. The Aerobee rocket was a small (8 m) unguided suborbital sounding rocket used for high atmospheric and cosmic radiation research in the United States in the 1950s. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On December 13, 1958 Gordo, also called Old Reliable, a squirrel monkey, survived being launched aboard JUPITER AM-13 by the USA Army. He died because of a mechanical failure of the parachute recovery system in the rocket nosecone. December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Type Species Simia sciurea Linnaeus, 1758 Species Saimiri oerstedii Saimiri sciureus Saimiri ustus Saimiri boliviensis Saimiri vanzolini The squirrel monkeys are the New World monkeys of the genus Saimiri. ... Jupiter IRBM mobile missile The Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, first tested in 1957, was the United States second Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program The traditional definition of a rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving fluid from within a rocket engine. ...

On May 28, 1959 Able, a rhesus monkey, and Baker, a squirrel monkey, became the first living beings to successfully return to Earth after traveling in space aboard the JUPITER AM-18. They travelled in excess of 16,000 km/h, and withstood 38 g (373 m/s²). Able died June 1, 1959 while undergoing surgery to remove an infected medical electrode, from a reaction to the anesthesia. Baker died November 29, 1984 at the age of 27 and is buried on the grounds of the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Miss Able was preserved, and is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute of Air and Space Museum. Their names were taken from a phonetic alphabet. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Binomial name Macaca mulatta Zimmermann, 1780 The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), often called the Rhesus monkey, is one of the best known species of Old World monkeys. ... Earth (often referred to as the Earth, or the earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth largest. ... Jupiter IRBM mobile missile The Jupiter Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, first tested in 1957, was the United States second Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... The acceleration due to gravity denoted g (also gee) is a non-SI unit of acceleration defined as exactly 9. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet was developed in 1941 and was used by all branches of the United States military until the promulgation of the NATO phonetic alphabet in 1956, which replaced it. ...

In 1959, Sam, a rhesus monkey flew on the Little Joe 2 flight in the Mercury program followed in 1960 by Miss Sam, also a rhesus monkey on Little Joe 1B (Ham and Enos also flew in the Mercury program but they were chimpanzees, not monkeys). For the Apollo program launch vehicle, see Little Joe II. The Little Joe 2 was an important test of the Mercury capsule because it was the first Little Joe animal flight, carrying the Rhesus monkey Sam (Macaca mulatta) close to the edge of space. ... Description Role: Orbital spaceflight Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Height: 11. ... Miss Sam the Rhesus monkey, pilot of Little Joe 1B. (NASA) The Little Joe 1B was a Launch Escape System test of the Mercury spacecraft, conducted as part of the U.S. Mercury program. ... Ham fitted into a special biopack couch prior to flight. ... Mercury-Atlas 5 was an American unmanned spaceflight of the Mercury program. ... Description Role: Orbital spaceflight Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Height: 11. ... Type Species Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 Species Pan troglodytes Pan paniscus Chimpanzee, often shortened to chimp, is the common name for the two extant species in the genus Pan. ...

Goliath, a squirrel monkey died in the explosion of his Atlas rocket on November 10, 1961. A rhesus monkey called Scatback flew a sub-orbital flight on December 20, 1961 but was lost at sea after landing. Mercury Atlas 9 rocket and capsule on pad The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles built by Lockheed Martin. ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

Bonny, a pigtailed macaque, flew on Biosatellite 3, a mission which lasted from 29 June to 8 July 1969. This was the first multi-day monkey flight - but came after longer human spaceflights were common. He died within a day of landing. June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

Spacelab 3 on the Space Shuttle flight STS-51B featured two squirrel monkeys named No. 3165 and No. 384-80. The flight was from 29 April - 6 May 1985. STS 51-B was the seventeenth flight of a Space Shuttle and the seventh flight of Challenger. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... STS 51-B was the seventeenth flight of a Space Shuttle and the seventh flight of Challenger. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

France

France launched a pigtailed macaque named Martine on a Vesta rocket on March 7, 1967 and another named Pierette on March 13. Both survived their trips. March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ...

Soviet Union/Russia

The Soviet/Russian space program in the Bion program satellites used only the rhesus species. The Bion space flights, also named Biocosmos, were a series of Soviet (later CIS) space flights. ...

The first Soviet monkeys, Abrek and Bion, flew on Bion 6. They were aloft from December 14, 1983 - December 20, 1983. Bion 6 (Cosmos 1514) was a biomedical research mission. ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Next came Bion 7 with monkeys Verny and Gordy from July 10, 1985 - July 17, 1985. Then Drema and Yerosha on Bion 8 from September 29, 1987 - October 12, 1987. Bion 7 (Cosmos 1667) was a biomedical research mission involving scientists from nine countries. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bion 8 (Cosmos 1887) carried scientific instruments for continuing research into the effects of spaceflight on monkeys and other biological objects, radiation safety, and physics. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bion 9 with monkeys Zhakonya and Zabiyaka followed from September 15, 1989 to September 28, 1989. They hold the monkey in space endurance record at 13 days, 17 hours in space. Monkeys Krosh and Ivasha flew on Bion 10 from December 29, 1992 to January 7, 1993. Lapik and Multik are the last space monkeys to date. They flew aboard the Bion 11 mission from December 24, 1996 to January 7, 1997. Multik died soon after landing. Bion 9 (Cosmos 2044) was a biomedical research mission involving nine countries and ESA. Eighty experiments were conducted in such categories as motion sickness, reproduction and regeneration, immunology, and readaption to a normal gravity environment. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (272nd in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bion 10 (Cosmos 2229), a C.I.S. spacecraft, was launched by a Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Bion 11 was part of the Bion series of space flights. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The names of the monkeys started on each letter of Russian alphabet sequentially (A, B, V, G, D, E, Zh, Z, I, K, L, M...) The modern Russian alphabet is a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet (Кириллица). It was introduced into Kievan Rus (Киевская Русь) at the time of its conversion to Christianity (988), or, if certain archaelogical finds are correctly dated, at a slightly earlier date. ...

See also

• Russian space dogs
• Animals in space
• Space exploration
• Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys
• Monkeys on boats
• Ham the Chimp

Belka and Strelka orbited the Earth and returned safely on Korabl-Sputnik-2 During the 1950s and 1960s the USSR used a number of dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. ... Squirrel monkey Baker rode a Jupiter missile (modeled above) into space in 1959 Animals in space originally served to test the survivability of spaceflight before manned space missions were attempted. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space. ... Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys was an American animated television series which produced 26 episodes airing from 1996 to 1997. ... For other uses, see Monkey (disambiguation). ... Ham fitted into a special biopack couch prior to flight. ...

External links

• A humorous look at monkey astronaut names
• Monkey astronauts