Man first reached space on April 12, 1961. But he wasn’t the first living being to do so – animals and insects had successfully reached space 15 years before that, on February 20, 1947! However, high-altitude survival experiments began even earlier, in 1783, when explorers sent animals up in a hot-air balloon, that actually traversed a distance of 2 miles!
The history of space exploration is also the history of animals in space, as scientists utilized them to test safety levels before sending astronauts up. This infographic highlights some amazing facts and stories.
The History of Animals in Space:
Infographic by – Space.com