Quantcast
Channel: the happy drone » Space
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 5

Cats in space!

0
0

Launching animals into space is one of those bizarre rituals of the Space Age. Over the last 70 years or so, a whole host of animals, including frogs, dogs, turtles, mice, and monkeys have ventured into the Great Beyond, most famously as part of the Soviet and American space programs (for whatever reason, the Soviets tended to prefer dogs, the Americans, monkeys.) Sadly, in the early days of space flight, many of these animals did not return. More recently, countries like Iran have gotten into the act, launching a mouse, two turtles, some worms and a monkey into the aether.

And now Iran has announced that it may send a cat (Persian, of course) into space atop one of their newer, liquid-fueled rockets. The country is also considering using a rabbit or a mouse, but I expect the final decision to be kept under wraps until the launch occurs early next year. If I were them, I’d go with the cat.

You can read all about the history of animals in space over at this well-documented wiki, or watch the documentary short below about the famously tough tardigrades (otherwise known as water bears) who, in 2007 became the first animals to survive exposure to hard vacuum, with only their natural protection.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 5

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images