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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Animals in space Before astronauts orbited the Earth, dogs like Laika, Lisichka, and Bars paved the way for future explorations and for putting people in space. Laika, the Space Dog, pioneered the animal astronaut programme in 1957, but she was only the first in a long line of brave animals to explore space. Laika rode on Sputnik 2, a Russian mission that blasted off on November 3, 1957. Laika was originally thought to have survived in Earth orbit for four days, dying in space when the batteries to the cabin overheated. In 2002, it was revealed that Laika died roughly five to seven hours into the flight, from overheating and stress. After orbiting the Earth 2,570 times, Sputnik 2 fell back to Earth on April 14, 1958, burning up during re-entry. It's not only dogs that have been in to space. The former Soviet Union sent a number of canine cosmonauts into orbit, with other animals sometimes accompanying them. In August 1960, Sputnik 5 was launched with Belka and Strelka, two canine cosmonauts, onboard. They were joined on their voyage by 40 mice and 2 rats. Sputnik 9, launched in March 1961, propelled yet another dog, Chernushka, into orbit, this time accompanied by a guinea pig and some mice. While the Soviet Union focused on dogs, the U.S. chose to use simian (ape) space explorers. In 1958, after launching three mouse "payloads" in the noses of rockets, the United States shot Gordo, a squirrel monkey - who was also known as "Old Reliable" - into space aboard the Jupiter AM-13. A rhesus monkey named Able and a spider monkey named Baker followed Gordo in May 1959 aboard the Jupiter Missile AM-18. Happily, they were the first living beings "recovered" after their space trip. Another rhesus monkey named Sam took off in December 1959. Miss Sam followed suit in January 1960. In January 1961, the first chimp braved space travel when Ham took flight aboard the Mercury-Redstone 2. In November 1961, Enos became the second chimp in space. France launched the first cat into space, a black and white stray from the streets of Paris named Felix. Onboard Shenzhou II, China sent a rabbit and some snails. Various other space missions have included amoebae, fruit flies, spiders, crickets, hornets, wasps, worms, jellyfish, goldfish, minnows, oyster toadfish, newts, quail, bullfrogs, and tortoises. And of course, no round-up of animal astronauts would be complete without a mention of our favourites - "Pigs in Space". Although the majority of animals were sent into space as a precursor (forerunner) to launching human astronauts, animals continue to brave the final frontier, sometimes accompanying humans and sometimes flying solo, even though animal rights activists continue to lobby against such experiments. Recent efforts to launch a new kind of animal into space have been put on hold for the time being. ######## Venus Express launch delayed The launch of the European Space Agency's (ESA's) first mission to Venus will be delayed for several days to correct a problem with the spacecraft's launch vehicle. Venus Express, designed to monitor the planet's unusual atmosphere, was schduled to be launched (at the time the Junior Observer was going to press) by a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. According to international news reports, Russian officials announced the launch would be delayed after technicians discovered contamination inside the launch vehicle's payload fairing. Removing the contamination and performing additional checks will delay the launch for "several days", according to the ESA. The launch would likely be delayed seven to ten days. Venus Express, based on spacecraft designed for ESA's Mars Express mission, will enter orbit around Venus in April 2006 to perform studies of the planet's dense atmosphere. Composed chiefly of carbon dioxide, Venus' atmosphere generates intense greenhouse warming, whereby trapped solar radiation heats the surface of the planet to an average temperature of 467 degrees Celsius. Experts think Venus could teach us more about how the Earth's climate will respond to the release of greenhouse gases resulting from human activities. After separation of the Soyuz rocket's three lower stages, the upper "Fregat" stage with the orbiter mounted on top enters a sub-orbital trajectory. After two burns, Fregat will launch the spacecraft into an escape trajectory that takes it directly to Venus. In about five months, Venus Express will reach its target and enter an elliptical polar orbit around our nearest planetary neighbour. |
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