BrainStuff Classics: Why Were Fruit Flies the First Animal in Space?

In 1947, U.S. military scientists launched the very first Earth animals into space: fruit flies. Learn about their trip to the final frontier in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/why-fruit-flies-were-first-animals-in-space.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi
brain Stuff. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today I've got another
classic episode for you. This one concerns the strange story
of why and how fruit flies became the very first
earthly animal to visit outer space. Hi brain Stuff, Lauren

(00:23):
vogel Bomb. Here On February, the humble fruit fly boldly
went where no earth creature had gone before, into space.
Of all things. The historic trip was made on a
rocket originally designed by Nazis Easy. Towards the end of
World War Two, American soldiers seized a number of German
V two ballistic missiles, along with enough component pieces to

(00:46):
fill three hundred train cars. The V twos were high tech,
long range weapons that could fly at a top speed
of thirty five hundred miles per hour that's about fifty
six hundred kilometers per hour and hit targets standing as
far as two hundred miles that's three and twenty kilometers away.
Uncle Sam's military realized that V two's had great scientific potential.

(01:06):
In nineteen forty six, the Armed Forces began test firing
them at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Even Back then, there was an interest in the possibility
of putting a man in outer space someday, but first
some major technical questions needed answering. For starters, scientists wondered
if exposure to cosmic radiation would harm potential future astronauts, so,
starting in nineteen forty six, the military launched a series

(01:29):
of biological samples into space on V two rockets. Seeds
from corn rye and other plants were sent skyward, often
reaching heights of eighty miles that's a hundred thirty kilometers
or more above the ground. Most, but not all, of
these were recovered post launch and thoroughly examined by scientists
working with the U. S. Navy. According to the Office
of Naval Research, the White Sands Missile Range didn't manage

(01:49):
to send animals into space until ninety seven. On February
twenty that year, a V two loaded with fruit flies
traveled sixty seven miles that's a hundred nine kilometers up
into the atmosphe here. NASA currently recognizes the altitude of
sixty six miles or a hundred kilometers as the point
where space officially begins. Therefore, those bugs are considered the

(02:10):
first animals to ever visit the Final Frontier. But why
were fruit flies chosen for this cosmic journey? Genetically, their
species has way more in common with Homo sapiens than
you might think. Around sev of all of the disease
causing genes present in humans have analogs in the fruit
flies genetic code. Studying fruit flies can therefore teach us

(02:30):
a lot about our own genetic makeup, which is a
big reason the insects are so popular among biological researchers.
It's also the reason that the White Sands missile range
wanted to see what would happen to them in outer space.
On the V two's descent back to Earth, a capsule
containing the fruit flies broke away, and a parachute slowly
lowered it down onto New Mexican soil. The scientists were

(02:50):
relieved to see that the fruit flies were still alive, and,
perhaps more importantly, that the cosmic radiation had had no
genetic effect on them. In other words, the insects had
not been mutated in space. That encouraged biologists to launch
other animals on V two excursions. By the time NASA
was founded in America had sent numerous hamsters, mice, and

(03:11):
monkeys into space, though sadly many of them did not
make it back alive. However, this research and their sacrifice
has paved the way to the amazing exploration being done today.
Today's episode is based on the article why fruit flies
were the first animals in space on how stuff works

(03:33):
dot com, written by Mark Vancini. Brain Stuff is production
off I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works
dot com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
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