• Question: Did the fly die in space ?

    Asked by Alfie And Ruby to Tim on 8 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Tim Duckenfield

      Tim Duckenfield answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      I think the first animals technically in space that we know about were a group of fruitflies on board a V2 rocket, that reached an altitude of 42 miles up. These were fine when they retrieved the rocket.

      Sadly the first animal in orbit, Laika the dog (Laika is russian for “barker”), died in the capsule. The capsule wasn’t designed for her to survive – it caused a big and important debate about the ethics of sacrificing animals for science, something we still discuss today.

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