1: Dog
Laika (literally meaning "Barker") was a Soviet space dog (c. 1954–November 3, 1957) who became the first animal to orbit the Earth and the first orbital death. Little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched. Some scientists believed humans would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so engineers viewed flights by non-human animals as a necessary precursor to human missions. Laika, a stray, originally named Kudryavka (Russian: Кудрявка Little Curly), underwent training with two other dogs, and was eventually chosen as the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957. Sputnik 2 was not designed to be retrievable, and Laika had always been intended to die.
Laika died within hours after launch from overheating, possibly due to a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of her death was not made public until 2002; instead, it was widely reported that she died when her oxygen ran out, or (as the Soviets initially insisted) she was euthanised prior to oxygen depletion. However, the experiment proved that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure weightlessness. It paved the way for human spaceflight and provided scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments. On April 11, 2008, Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika. A small monument in her honor was built near the military research facility in Moscow which prepared Laika's flight to space. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.so, laika is our top animal austronaut.
2: Monkeys:
Before humans went into space, several animals were launched into space, including numerous monkeys, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of space travel. The United States launched monkey flights primarily between 1948-1961 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 monkeys, cynomolgus monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and pig-tailed macaques. Some chimpanzees were also used.
3: cats
Once again, our hats must go off to the French. Not happy with just firing the first rat into space, France decided they would also send up the very first space cat in October of 1963. So they found themselves a street cat, named it Felix, strapped it into a Véronique AGI rocket, and hurled it heavenward. And yes, it survived!
One week later, however, they launched a second cat. Let’s just say that one wasn’t quite as lucky…
4:Mice
Eleven mice were on board the 1951 U.S. Aerobee missile flight that carried Yorick, the first monkey recovered alive after a rocket flight. The U.S. also sent mice on three rocket re-entry tests during the 1958 “Mouse In Able” project (all three died). In addition, fourteen more mice perished on a Jupiter rocket after they lifted off from Cape Canaveral in 1959.
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