Space exploration has moved in leaps and bounds since it started, but not so long ago, us humans couldn’t even go up there. So who, or what, went first?
Back at the beginning of the space race, humans were grounded while we tried to figure out exactly how we were going to get up there and come back down again in one piece.
So first, we had to test it out on our reliable primate cousins, monkeys, who were the intrepid explorers that we first launched into space.
The monkey tag team of Able and Baker were the first two to head up and come back with a full report on the whole thing, or as full a report as you can get from a monkey.
Both Able and Baker were female monkeys that NASA trained up, who showed themselves to be the outstanding candidates in a class of 25 recruits, and were launched into space on May 28th, 1959.
The two were set up with all the gear an astronaut needs to go into orbit, and were monitored carefully throughout the whole process to make sure they returned safely. They travelled 1,500 miles and came back down to earth near Puerto Rico, true space heroes.
In 1959, for their achievements, they made the cover of Life magazine, having been the first two animals launched into space and brought back safely by NASA.
Although Able died four days after the flight due to an unusual reaction to anaesthetic, Baker in fact achieved the record for oldest living squirrel monkey. Her birthdays were celebrated every year with her favourite food (bananas and strawberry jelly) and she would constantly receive letters from schoolchildren who knew her as the famous space monkey. She would also get the odd rubber duck to play with.
To find out more about the Lynx Space Academy and for your chance to be the first Irishman in space click here
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