In the early days of space exploration animals were sent into
space because scientists didn’t know if humans would survive.
Some of our closest cousins have boldly been where many of us
may never go. In a year when America has seen its space shuttles
go into retirement, Iran’s Space Organisation has been firing on
all cylinders. The Iranians had been planning to launch a
rocket, Kavoshgar-5, which means Explorer-5 in Farsi, with a
285-kilogram capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 120
kilometres (74 miles). But yesterday the country’s top space
official, Hamid Fazeli said the space monkey’s mission had been
cancelled. He said: “One cannot give a set date for this project
and as soon as our nation’s scientists announce the readiness
(of the project) it will be announced. “Our scientists are
exerting continuous efforts on this project… our colleagues are
busy with empirical studies and sub-system testing of this
project so it is a success.” The capsule was unveiled in
February by President Mahmoud Ahmadin