In 1948, the first-ever primate was launched in a rocket based in White Sands, New Mexico, according to NASA. Because the mission wasn't well-documented, Albert I, a rhesus monkey in the macaque family, wasn't granted much recognition for his bravery. Following Albert I was Albert II, who got slightly more press the following year for making it 83 miles into space, but he died on impact when he returned to earth (via NASA). Afterwards, a host of other monkeys, dogs, and mice were launched, but all underwent some form of sickness or health effects, or else died on impact (per NASA).
It wasn't until 1951, in a flight out of New Mexico, that the first monkey to be sent into space survived the space flight. Yorick soared 236,000 feet into the air along with 11 mice, per NASA. However, the Kármán line, or the point where earth's sky technically transitions into outer space, is about 50 miles up, or 264,000 feet, according to National Geographic, so many of these early monkeynauts can't quite be called the Neil Armstrong of the monkey world.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCEkmxvb25fqbWmedOrrK2gXZavsMHTZquhnV2btrO%2F02aqrpuTmsC0stSlZKannqCyurrArqusZZanvK5506GcZq2jZA%3D%3D