Laika died within hours of her launch from overheating, possibly due to the failure of the central sustainer. Since very little was known about the impact of space travel on living creatures at the time, Laika's survival was not expected. On November 3, 1957, Laika - a stray dog from Moscow - became one of the first animals to reach space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. Russians preferred sending dogs to space as they believed canines to be less fidgety. In 1949, the second monkey Albert II successfully reached space, but died when the parachute on his recovery capsule failed upon re-entry. But, Albert I, the first monkey attempted to be sent to space, could not even survive the launch. The first animals sent into space were fruit flies aboard a US-launched V-2 rocket, and they made it back alive. Fruit flies, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, frogs, goldfish and monkeys have all made it to space. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)Īnimal travel in space has led to major safety advancements for humans. Michael J Adams standing next to his X-15. Mid-way through the manoeuvre, the X-15 began shaking violently, forcing Adams to abandon the move and focus on his descent.
Adam's job now was to perform a planned wing-rocking manoeuvre, so a camera on the ship could scan the horizon. Despite some electrical disturbances, the aircraft reached a peak altitude of 266,000 ft. On November 15, 1967, Michael J Adams undocked his X-15 from the wing of its mothership, 45,000 ft above Nevada state. X-15 Flight 191, also known as X-15 Flight 3-65-97, was a test flight of the North American X-15 experimental aircraft - a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft operated by the US Air Force and NASA for high-altitude research. The cause of the accident was never fully determined. The Vanguard was US Navy's attempt to combat the Soviet launch of Sputnik just two months before. It managed to reach a height of just four feet. Merely two seconds after leaving the launch pad, the rocket lost thrust and sank back down, rupturing and exploding its fuel tanks. On December 6, 1957, the United States made its first attempt to launch a satellite into orbit - and failed miserably.
The accident is being investigated by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB).
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