Spaceflight Test Animals 2

Description

Spaceflight test animals, photo; Licensed article; Original: 5740×4315; Photographer: Unknown; subject to license; Rights:
9 Bleek/zb Media. The photo shows test animals from the Soviet space programs sent into space for scientific experiments in the 1950s and 1960s.
– Dogs like Laika, Belka, and Strelka: Laika is particularly known for being the first living creature to fly into space with Sputnik 2 in 1957. Later, Belka and Strelka (1960) returned alive from an orbital flight as the first animals.
– Monkeys, mice, and other animals: In addition to dogs, the Soviet Union also tested other animals to study the effects of weightlessness and space travel on organism.
These experiments provided important insights for manned spaceflight and paved the way for Yuri Gagarin’s historic spaceflight in 1961.