Humanity’s got a sad history of testing our craziest ideas and inventions on animals first, just to see if it’s safe. I mean, on one hand, I get that we need to ensure that no one gets hurt by the things we’re concocting, but on the other, animals aren’t really consenting or aware of the risks, and often take the brunt of our ambitious mistakes. Especially when it comes to space.
Across the past 75 years or so, we’ve tried to figure out how to rise above our planet and survey the stars, and a lot of brave animals took the brunt of that exploration. While some gave their life so that we could sort out things like heat shielding, parachutes and the right oxygen mix, many of these brave animals made it back, with stories to tell and a place in our greatest museums.
They’re all good boys, girls, monkeys and jellyfish in my books.
