Her name is Laika, which means "barker" in Russian. Laika's death sparked debates about animal rights around the world. By the time NASA was founded in 1958, America had sent numerous hamsters, mice and monkeys into space (sadly, … https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explore/what-was-first-animal-space In 1957, the dog became the first animal to enter the Earth’s orbit. Laika (Russian: Лайка; c. 1954 – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. She lives for seven days, proving that animals (and presumably humans) can survive in space. Aboard the Soviet's Sputnik 2, Laika, a dog, became the very first living creature to enter orbit on November 3, 1957. It was 1973 and Nasa were keen to observe the effects of microgravity on animals that moved three dimensionally on Earth. On Jan. 31, 1961 — a few months before Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering flight — Ham became the first hominid in space. That encouraged biologists to launch other animals on V-2 excursions. Ham (July 1957 – January 19, 1983), also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was a chimpanzee and the first hominid launched into space.On January 31, 1961, Ham flew a suborbital flight on the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, part of the U.S. space program's Project Mercury. However, since the Soviets did not create a re-entry plan, Laika died in space. The most famous of these first animals in space by far is Laika, the Soviet space dog. There is no way … In other words, the insects hadn't been mutated in space. Equipment had to be built and tested, experimental flights were performed, and studies of how plant and animal life reacted to the different environment of space were completed. 60 years ago: The First Animal in Orbit | NASA Other nonhominid animals had ventured into space before Ham, but he and his fellow “astrochimps” were trained to pull levers and prove it was physically possible to pilot the Project Mercury spacecraft. The Soviet Union launches a female dog into space on Sputnik II. First Animal in Space November 3, 1957. Many animals such as monkeys, dogs and cats went up, but the very first travelers to the moon were reptiles — or to be more specific, Russian Steppe tortoises. On November 3, 1957, less than a month after they inaugurated the Space Age, the Soviet Union took the next big step with the launch of Sputnik 2. The first aquanauts to reach space were a type of minnow found in salt marshes – the mummichog – plus 50 eggs. 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