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 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 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.