Space Pioneers: Animals That Paved the Way for Human Space Exploration

By Raymond C. Wilson

Over the past 70 years, American and Soviet scientists have used the animal world for testing. Despite losses, these animals have taught the scientists a tremendous amount more than could have been learned without them. Without animal testing in the early days of the human space program, the Soviet and American programs could have suffered great losses of human life. These animals performed a service to their respective countries that no human could or would have performed. They gave their lives and/or their service in the name of technological advancement. This book aims to tell the story of some of those animals that were space pioneers paving the way for human space exploration. The author of this book met four of these animals (Able, Baker, Ham, and Enos) when these primates were housed at the Miami Rare Bird Farm in the 1950s before they were involved in the American space program.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raymond C. Wilson
• Release date: Mar 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215872086

Raymond C. Wilson

Raymond C. Wilson is a military historian, filmmaker, and amateur genealogist. During his military career as an enlisted soldier, warrant officer, and commissioned officer in the U.S. Army for twenty-one years, Wilson served in a number of interesting assignments both stateside and overseas. He had the honor of serving as Administrative Assistant to Brigadier General George S. Patton (son of famed WWII general) at the Armor School; Administrative Assistant to General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley at the Pentagon; and Military Assistant to the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon. In 1984, Wilson was nominated by the U.S. Army Adjutant General Branch to serve as a White House Fellow in Washington, D.C. While on active duty, Wilson authored numerous Army regulations as well as articles for professional journals including 1775 (Adjutant General Corps Regimental Association magazine), Program Manager (Journal of the Defense Systems Management College), and Army Trainer magazine. He also wrote, directed, and produced three training films for Army-wide distribution. He is an associate member of the Military Writers Society of America. Following his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1992, Wilson made a career change to the education field. He served as Vice President of Admissions and Development at Florida Air Academy; Vice President of Admissions and Community Relations at Oak Ridge Military Academy; Adjunct Professor of Corresponding Studies at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; and Senior Academic Advisor at Eastern Florida State College. While working at Florida Air Academy, Wilson wrote articles for several popular publications including the Vincent Curtis Educational Register and the South Florida Parenting Magazine. At Oak Ridge Military Academy, Wilson co-wrote and co-directed two teen reality shows that appeared on national television (Nickelodeon & ABC Family Channel). As an Adjunct Professor at U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Wilson taught effective communications and military history for eighteen years. At Eastern Florida State College, Wilson wrote, directed, and produced a documentary entitled "Wounded Warriors - Their Struggle for Independence" for the Chi Nu chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. Since retiring from Eastern Florida State College, Wilson has devoted countless hours working on book manuscripts.

Book preview

SPACE PIONEERS

ANIMALS THAT PAVED THE WAY

FOR HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION

Written by

RAYMOND C. WILSON

SPACE PIONEERS

ANIMALS THAT PAVED THE WAY

FOR HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION

Published by Raymond C. Wilson at Smashwords

Copyright 2023 Raymond C. Wilson

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Cover photo by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Also by Raymond C. Wilson

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America’s Five-Star Warriors

The Men Who Saved West Point

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Elvis Presley: His Music and Movies

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Whether or Not It’s a Weather Balloon?

Sleepy Hollow: Facts Behind the Fiction

The King and I: My Family Ties to Elvis

Elvis Presley: You’re in the Army Now

Lance of Longinus: The Spear of Destiny

POTUS & FLOTUS: Washington to Biden

Tecumseh’s Revenge: The Curse of Tippecanoe

Pennsylvania Bucktails: Civil War Sharpshooters

George Smith Patton: Four Men Who Shared the Name

Wounded Warriors - Their Struggle for Independence

McKee Family of Pennsylvania: Loyalists and Patriots

European Royal Bloodlines of the American Presidents

Pass in Review - Military School Celebrities (Volume One)

Pass in Review - Military School Celebrities (Volume Two)

Pass in Review - Military School Celebrities (Volume Three)

Pass in Review - Military School Celebrities (Volume Four)

The Making of Patton - An Academy Award Winning Movie

‘Twas Whose Night Before Christmas? Moore Vs. Livingston

If These Walls Could Talk: Huling Hotel and Pack Horse Inn

George Armstrong Custer and the Royal Buffalo Hunt of 1872

Beyond the Bighorn: The Afterlife of George Armstrong Custer

George Armstrong Custer and the Pennypackers of Pennsylvania

Kennedy Family of Pennsylvania and Their Native American Kin

Pass in Review - Military School Celebrities (Presidential Edition)

14th Cavalry Group in World War II - Story of Cavalryman Bill Null

Patton: Soldier Who Saved His Life and the One Who Caused His Death

Custer’s Luck Has Run Out: George Armstrong Custer’s Changing Image

Out of Necessity: George Washington’s Surrender of Fort Necessity to the French

Table of Contents

Introduction

Primates Launched by United States

Canines Launched by Soviet Union

Afterword

Appendix 1: Space Race

Appendix 2: Space Exploration

Bibliography

About Raymond C. Wilson

Introduction

The use of animals in aeronautical exploration dates back to 1783 when the Montgolfier brothers (Joseph and Etienne) sent a rooster, a duck, and a sheep on a hot air balloon flight. The demonstration was held in front of King Louis XVI and the royal family in the palace forecourt, which was packed with curious onlookers. The balloon was only in the air for 15 minutes before crashing back to the ground.

A rooster, a duck, and a sheep were the first passengers on a balloon flight

Pilatre de Rozier, a physician and future aeronaut, hurried to collect and examine the animals: they were, not entirely expectedly, alive. The rooster, duck, and sheep were hailed as 'heroes of the air' and, as a reward, were given a place in the Menagerie in Versailles by King Louis XVI.

More than 160 years later, American and Soviet scientists began using members of the animal world for testing. Despite losses, these animals have taught the scientists a tremendous amount more than could have been learned without them. Without animal testing in the early days of the human space program, the American and Soviet programs could have suffered great losses of human life. These animals performed a valuable service to their respective countries that no human could or would have performed.

Toward the end of World War II, American soldiers seized a number of German V-2 ballistic missiles, along with enough component pieces to fill 300 train cars. The V-2s were high-tech, long-range weapons that could fly at a top speed of 3,500 miles per hour and hit targets standing as far as 200 miles away.

The United States military realized that V-2s had great scientific potential. In 1946, the armed forces began