Animals -- in particular monkeys -- have a long history of space travel.
Monkeys In Space
1
In May 1959, the United States' Able and Miss Baker were the first monkeys to successfully return to Earth after being in space.
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A rhesus monkey Sam preparing for his flight on the United States' "Little Joe 2" in December 1959. The flight reached close to the edge of space and Sam survived the mission.
3
Enos, a chimpanzee, wears a space suit in his flight couch while being prepared for insertion in the United States's "Mercury-Atlas 5" capsule in 1961. Enos survived the mission.
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U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard is photographed with Ham, a chimpanzee who preceded him in space, with a 16 minute sub-orbital flight aboard the "Mercury Redstone" rocket in 1961.
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Soviet monkey Dryoma pictured in October 1989 during a pre-flight examination. After making it back safely to Earth, Dryoma was given to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
7
A monkey is tied inside the replica capsule of the Iranian-made "Kavoshgar-4" rocket during the unveiling ceremony of four new home-built prototype satellites in Tehran in February 2011.