Project Albert
The first primate astronaut was Albert, a rhesus monkey, who on
June 11, 1948, rode to over 63 km (39 mi) on a V-2 rocket. Albert died
of suffocation during the flight. Albert was followed by Albert II who
survived the V-2 flight but died on impact on June 14, 1949, after a
parachute failure. Albert II became the first monkey and first primate
in space as his flight reached 134 km (83 mi) - past the Kármán line of
100 km taken to designate the beginning of space. Albert III died at
35,000 feet (10.7 km) in an explosion of his V2 on September 16,
1949. Albert IV, on the last monkey V-2 flight, died on impact on
December 8 that year after another parachute failure.His flight
reached 130.6 km. Alberts I, II, and IV were rhesus monkeys while
Albert III was a cynomolgus monkey.
Joanna Walukiewicz