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. But why these diminutive bugs in particular? Learn about their trip to the final fronteir in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain Stuff.
Lauren Vogel bomb here on February seven, 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

(00:23):
end of World War Two, American soldiers seized a number
of German V two ballistic missiles, along with enough component
pieces to 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

(00:44):
kilometers away. Uncle Sam's military realized that V two's had
great scientific potential. In ninety 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 some day,
but first some major technical questions needed answering. For starters,
scientists wondered if exposure to cosmic radiation would harm potential

(01:08):
future astronauts, So, starting in nineteen forty six, the military
launched a series 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

(01:30):
to the Office of Naval Research, the White Sands Missile
Range didn't manage 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 atmosphere. 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

(01:53):
the 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 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

(02:14):
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

(02:34):
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 ninety eight, America had sent numerous hamsters, mice,

(02:54):
and 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 was written by Mark Mancini and
produced by Tyler clang Her. More on this and lots

(03:16):
of other genetically similar topics, visit our home planet, how
stuff Works dot com.