Click the Brandenburg Flag for a German translation Für eine deutsche Übersetzung dieser Seite einfach die Brandenburger Flagge anklicken

Animal Astronauts A listing of the animals that paved the way for human space flight Part 4

The fourth part of our Animal Astronaut listing starts with the first animals carried on the Space Shuttle on August 30, 1983 and ends with the last life science mission carried out on a Space shuttle on May 16, 2011. It lists selected Space Shuttle missions and all other biological missions that were not part of the Space Shuttle and/or ISS program during that time frame. Space Shuttle and ISS experiments are listed separately in Part 5 and Part 7, respectively.

Click here to return to part 3.

August 30, 1983 Six Rats

STS-8 The Space Shuttle Challenger carried a small animal cage containing six rats; no animal experiment was carried out on the flight, but a student involvement project was planned for a later mission which would use the cage, and NASA wanted to ensure it was flight-tested.

December 14, 1983 Abrek & Bion

Bion 6 The Soviet biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Abrek and Bion (picture) and ten pregnant Wistar rats. It conducted joint research between the Soviet Union and the United States. It returned to Earth after 5 days and was recovered on December 19, 1983. This was the first time the Soviet Union used monkeys in space.

April 29, 1985 No. 3165 and No. 384-80

STS-51-B On the third Spacelab Mission, lasting seven days, Space Shuttle Challenger carried two squirrel monkeys named No. 3165 and No. 384-80 and 24 rats. This was the only large animal experiment on board a space shuttle. In this section, only selected Space Shuttle missions are listed based on their uniqueness. A complete list of all 30 Space Shuttle missions carrying out biological experiments can be found here.

July 10, 1985 Verny & Gordy Rats, Fish, Newts

Bion 7 The Soviet biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Verny and Gordy and ten pregnant Wistar rats. It conducted joint research between the Soviet Union and the United States. It returned to Earth after 7 days and was recovered on July 17, 1985. It also carried guppies and and ten newts. The newts had part of their front limbs amputated to study the rate of recovery from injuries.

September 29, 1987 Dryoma & Yerosha Rats, Fish, Newts

Bion 8 The Soviet biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Dryoma and Yerosha together with ten rats, fruit flies, grasshoppers, beetles, guppies, asiatic salamanders, newts and chlorella algae. It conducted joint research between the Soviet Union, the United States, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, France, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary and the European Space Agency. It returned to Earth after 13 days and was recovered on October 12, 1987.

September 15, 1989 Zhakonya & Zabiyaka Rats, Fish, Newts

Bion 9 The Soviet biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Zhakonya (picture) and Zabiyaka together with ten rats, fish, amphibians, insects, worms and other specimen. It conducted joint research between the Soviet Union, the United States, Canada, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, United Kingdom and the European Space Agency. It returned to Earth after 14 days and was recovered on September 15, 1989. A failure in the thermal control system resulted in the deaths of some of the specimens.

March 22, 1990 Japanese Quail

Kvant-2 On December 6, 1989, the Kvant-2 module, containing a new Quail incubator, docks onto the Soviet Mir space station. On March 3, 1990, the Progress M-3 cargo ship delivered 33 Quail eggs. On March 22, 1990, the first eight birds hatched in space. As they were unable to feed themselves, those who did not perish were euthanized, and all were preserved for study upon return to Earth.

August 1, 1990 Japanese Quail

Soyuz TM-10 The Soviet space ship delivered four adult quail to the Mir space station. One of them had laid an egg during the ride to the space station. The egg was returned to earth and a healthy quail hatched from it. On board the space station, the adult quail were kept in "hammocks" in which they could be harnessed in proximity to a feeder enabling them to feed independently.

October 5, 1990 Rats, Guinea Pigs

FSW-1 No. 3 The Chinese surveillance satellite carried a biological payload, most likely consisting of rats and guinea pigs. There was no plan to recover the animals and no details about the biological payload were released.

December 2, 1990 Frogs

Soyuz TM-11 / Mir Japanese astronaut Toyohiro Akiyama took six Japanese tree frogs to the Russian Mir Space Station and returned them a week later.

December 29, 1992 Krosh & Ivasha

Bion 10 The Russian biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Krosh and Ivasha together with several insects, amphibians, plants, and cell cultures. It conducted joint research between Canada, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, People's Republic of China, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan and the European Space Agency. It returned to Earth after 12 days and was recovered on January 12, 1993.

July 3, 1994 Rats, Guinea Pigs

FSW-2 No. 2 The Chinese surveillance satellite carried a biological payload, most likely consisting of rats and guinea pigs. There was no plan to recover the animals and no details about the biological payload were released.

March 18, 1995 Newt Eggs

Space Flyer Unit / STS-72 With the SFU, launched from Tanegashima, JapanJapanese became the seventh nation to send animals into space. The SFU carried experiments for a long time exposure. Among the experiments were fertilized eggs of Japanese fire belly newts that hatched in space. The SFU was retrieved by Space Shuttle Endeavour ten month later on January 13, 1996 and returned to Earth on January 20, 1996.

December 24, 1996 Lapik & Multik

Bion 11 The Russian biosatellite carried rhesus monkeys Lapik and Multik together with newts, snails, Drosophila flies and other insects and bacteria. It conducted joint research between France, Russia and the United States. The flight set an endurance record for monkeys in space, returning after 14 days on January 7, 1997. Multik died a day later of a heart attack during medical tests under general anesthetic.

October 20, 1996 Rats, Guinea Pigs

FSW-2 No. 3 The Chinese surveillance satellite carried a biological payload, most likely consisting of rats and guinea pigs. Details about the biological payload were not released. The satellite landed in China on November 4 after 15 days in orbit, making China the third country to recover animals from earth orbit.

January 9, 2001 Japanese Quail

Soyuz_TM-29 / Mir The Russian ship carried a Slovakian experiment - an incubator with 56 Japanese quail eggs - to the Mir space station. 36 birds hatched in space.

January 9, 2001 Six Mice

Shenzhou 2 The second unmanned Chinese space ship carried six mice, fruit flies, 25 different biological specimens of microorganisms, cells and cellular structures from vertebrates and invertebrates, plants, and aquatic and terrestrial organisms and 20,000 seeds. It returned after seven days. There were unconfirmed reports about a partial parachute malfunction and no confirmation on the status of the animals.

October 15, 2002 Newts, Geckos, Lizards, Scorpions other small animals

Foton-M No.1 The Russian science satellite carried Spanish ribbed newts, Cuban fresh water crayfish, Georgian snails, thorn-back tritons, scorpions, geckos, lizards and microorganisms. All creatures were lost in a launch failure.

May 31, 2004 Newts, Geckos, Lizards, Scorpions other small animals

Foton-M No.2 Repeating the experiments of the failed Foton-M1 mission, the Russian science satellite carried Spanish ribbed newts, Cuban fresh water crayfish, Georgian snails, thorn-back tritons, scorpions, geckos, lizards and microorganisms. In cooperation with ESA, the ability of lichen to survive in space was tested. The lichen were exposed to open space for 14.6 days and survived. The satellite was recovered on June 16, 2004.

July 12, 2006 Cockroaches Larvae

Genesis I Among other items, the Genesis I inflatable space module, developed by Bigelow Aerospace contained Madagascar hissing cockroaches and Mexican jumping beans — seeds containing live larvae of the moth Cydia deshaisiana. There was no plan to return the animals to Earth.

June 28, 2007 Scorpions Cockroaches, Ants

Genesis II The Genesis II inflatable space module, developed by Bigelow Aerospace contained a male South African flat rock scorpion named Antares (named by school kids in a contest, three nameless female scorpions, a colony of Red harvester ants and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. There was no plan to return the animals to Earth.

September 14, 2007 Cockroache Nadezhda Newts, Geckos Tardigrades

Foton-M No.3 The Russian science satellite carried a number of cockroaches inside a sealed container. The cockroaches mated in flight and one of them, named Nadezhda successfully produced 33 offspring on Earth, these 33 insects being the first earthlings known to be conceived in conditions of weightlessness. In cooperation with NASA, the satellite also carried newts and geckos. In a joint experiment with the European Space Agency, tardigrades, also known as water-bears, were able to survive 10 days of exposure to open-space with only their natural protection. The satellite was recovered on September 26, 2007.

February 3, 2010 Mouse, Turtles

Kavoshgar-3 A sounding rocket launched from Damghan, Iran took a mouse, two turtles and some worms to an altitude of 55 km and returned them safely. There were two previous biology missions in October 2006 and on November 26, 2008, but without animals. There are no pictures of the animals.

The fifth part of our Animal Astronaut listing shows all animals that were part of biological studies on board the Space Shuttle.

Click here to move on to part 5.

Back to Space Page

Back to English Main Page

Back to Start Page