Animals in Space!

Ever dream of becoming an astronaut? Travel to space isn’t just for humans—animals can be astronauts too.

In Once Upon a Weasel, our Boy explores space and the moon with his faithful pet Weasel. But the Weasel is by no means the only animal to ever go up in outer space. In real life, many brave creatures have launched into orbit in order for us to learn more about space travel for humans.

It began in 1947, when a lucky bunch of fruit flies became the first insects shot into outer space. From there, a bewildering array of dogs, monkeys, mice, rats, turtles, fish, spiders, worms and even a housecat all made the heroic journey into zero gravity.

Two of the standout animal astronauts were Laika, who was launched in November 1957 by the Soviet Union, and Ham the Space Chimp, who completed a successful spaceflight on January 31, 1961.

If you could venture to space, would you bring your pet?

Read more: Cosmic Menagerie: A History of Animals in Space (Infographic) | Space.com

Venture to the moon with a weasel!

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