The first animals launched into space were fruit flies , sent aboard a U.S. V-2 rocket on 20 February 1947 to study the effects of cosmic radiation at high altitude.

Quick Scoop

  • The very first living creatures in space were fruit flies riding on a captured German V-2 rocket modified by the United States after World War II.
  • Their mission reached over 100 km above Earth, crossing the commonly accepted boundary of space (the KĆ”rmĆ”n line). Scientists recovered them alive and examined them for radiation effects.
  • Later famous ā€œfirstsā€ include Laika the dog, the first animal to orbit Earth in 1957 aboard Sputnik 2, and Albert II, a rhesus monkey, the first mammal in space in 1949.

So while many people think of Laika or monkeys as the pioneers, the quiet honor of ā€œfirst animal launched into spaceā€ actually belongs to a tiny group of fruit flies.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.