In 1947, fruit flies were the first animal to enter space
Laika flew on the Soviet Sputnik 2 rocket in 1957
Ham the chimp flew in 1961 and was trained to perform tasks
In 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space
A C. elegans worm
While perhaps not an obvious choice the tiny C. elegans worm has been routinely used on Earth and in space to study biology. Click on the picture of a C. elegans worm to find out more about them.
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We ultimately need to study human responses to spaceflight, but the small number of astronauts and inability to perform invasive experiments means different approaches are needed
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The negative effects of space also occur in other species, so we can use these to study these changes
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There is a long history of scientists sending animals into space for research...