Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle

by Colin Burgess, Chris Dubbs

Many readers will doubtless be astonished to learn that animals were being fired aloft in U.S. and Soviet research rockets in the late 1940s. In fact most people not only believe that the Russian space dog Laika was the first canine to be launched into space, but also that the high-profile, precursory Mercury flights of chimps Ham and Enos were the only primate flights conducted by the United States. In fact, both countries had sent literally dozens of animals aloft for many years prior to these events and continued to do so for many years after. Other latter-day space nations, such as France and China, would also begin to use animals in their own space research.
Animals in Space will explain why dogs, primates, mice and other rodents were chosen and tested, at a time when dedicated scientists from both space nations were determined to establish the survivability of human subjects on both ballistic and orbital space flights. It will also recount the way this happened; the secrecy involved and the methods employed, and offer an objective analysis of how the role of animals as spaceflight test subjects not only evolved, but subsequently changed over the years in response to a public outcry led by animal activists. It will explore the ways in which animal high-altitude and space flight research impacted on space flight biomedicine and technology, and how the results - both successful and disappointing - allowed human beings to then undertake that same hazardous journey with far greater understanding and confidence.
This book is intended as a detailed yet highly readable and balanced account of the history of animal space flights, and the resultant application of hard-won research to space technology and astrobiology.  It will undoubtedly become the ultimate authority on animal space flights.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science

456 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2006

Reviews

[Translator Monkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was simply an amazing read. Not just space shots, but everything from balloon atmospheric testing to speed sleds to ejection seat testing, we owe so much to our animal assistants. Some of the tests seem laughable (and cruel) today, but we were operating in a vacuum in the 1940s and beyond, and the scientists working with these animals in all countries, both sides of the Iron Curtain, took great pains to make sure that the creatures were well-equipped, physically and mentally, and were kept as safe as possible. Losses of life were mourned by the men and women who spent their every waking hour making these animals comfortable and free from fear. This is a remarkable work.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting subject matter, but the book it a little dry. I was hoping for more personal stories from the people that cared for and worked with the animals.