What types of animals have been to space?
Melody Parker, Washington, D.C.
Fruit flies, mice, monkeys, chimpanzees, guinea pigs, rabbits, frogs, reptiles—a menagerie. Probably the most famous is Laika, the dog launched aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. That flight was intended as a quick reiteration of the Soviets’ ability to hurl a large satellite into orbit, and the scientists didn’t even consider returning Laika to Earth; she died from excess heat and radiation within hours of achieving orbit. But her comrades Strelka and Belka safely completed a daylong mission on August 19, 1960.
