For nearly 80 years, some very unlikely astronauts have boldly gone where no fruit fly, dog, monkey or tortoise had gone before.
Long before humans hit the heavens, animals were the original space pioneers, helping scientists figure out whether living creatures could survive radiation, weightlessness and other hazards waiting beyond our atmosphere.
And they’re still at it. Rats, mice, insects and sea creatures are living at the International Space Station now.
The first buzz-worthy critters to get their wings were fruit flies.
In 1947, America launched them aboard a V-2 rocket 68 miles above Earth to study the effects of radiation. Their capsule…
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