A Brief History of Animals in Space. Before humans actually went into space, one of the prevailing theories of the perils of space flight was that humans might not be able to survive long periods of weightlessness.
http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html
Heritage Images / Getty Images Laika, Russian cosmonaut dog, in 1957. It was a Space Race victory that would have broken Sarah McLachlan’s heart. On this day, Nov. 3, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first-ever living animal into orbit: a dog named Laika.
http://time.com/3546215/laika-1957/
What many people don't know, however, are the special sacrifices that had to be made in order to get astronauts up into space at all. The major unsung heroes of space exploration, it turns out, are animals. How Space Shuttles Work.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dead-animals-in-space.htm
Nov. 3, 1957: The Soviet Union sends the first living creature into orbit. It was a Space Race victory that would have broken Sarah McLachlan’s heart. On this day, Nov. 3, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first-ever living animal into orbit: a dog named Laika. The flight was meant to test the safety of space travel for humans, but it was a guaranteed suicide mission for the dog, since technology hadn’t advanced as far as the return trip.
http://time.com/3546215/laika-1957/
The range of species broadened to include rabbits, turtles, insects, spiders, fish, jellyfish, amoebae, and algae. Although they were still used in tests dealing with long-range health effects in space, tissue development, and mating in a zero-g environment, etc., animals no longer made the front pages.
http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html
What many people don't know, however, are the special sacrifices that had to be made in order to get astronauts up into space at all. The major unsung heroes of space exploration, it turns out, are animals. 1  How Space Shuttles Work.  How Dogs Work.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dead-animals-in-space.htm
Unfortunately, since it was so early on in the space race, the design process for constructing the vehicles was trial and error -- if launches or reentry procedures were faulty, the animals had little chances of survival.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dead-animals-in-space.htm
What would be the effects of weightlessness on a mammal? How would the body handle radiation from the sun? Instead of sending people up in such a risky situation, the United States and Russia sent monkeys, chimps, dogs and other animals into space in order to analyze such effects.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/dead-animals-in-space.htm
For several years, there had been a serious debate among scientists about the effects of prolonged weightlessness. American and Russian scientists utilized animals - mainly monkeys, chimps and dogs - in order to test each country's ability to launch a living organism into space and bring it back alive and unharmed. On June 11, 1948, a V-2 Blossom launched into space from White Sands, New Mexico carrying Albert I, a rhesus monkey.
http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html
On October 18, 1963, French scientists launched the first cat into space on a Veronique AGI sounding rocket No. 47. The cat, named Flicette, was successfully retrieved after a parachute descent, but a second feline flight on October 24 ran into difficulties that prevented recovery.
http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html
what type of animals was the first living being sent into space
Among animals, a cat was the first living being to be sent into space. A cat was the first animal living being sent into the space.