Albert II was a malerhesus macaque monkey who was the first primate and first mammal to travel toouter space. He flew fromHolloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, United States, to an altitude of 83 miles (134 km) aboard a U.S.V-2 sounding rocket on June 14, 1949. Albert died upon landing after a parachute failure caused his capsule to strike the ground at high speed.[1][2] Albert's respiratory and cardiological data were recorded up to the moment of impact.[3]
Albert II's flight, run by theAlamogordo Guided Missile Test Base and organized with the help of Holloman Air Force Base, followed the likely preflight death ofAlbert I before a 39 mi (63 km) highmesospheric flight aboard a V-2 rocket on June 18, 1948. The capsule was redesigned in-between flights to enlarge the cramped quarters experienced byAlbert I.
Before Albert II the only previous known living beingsin space were fruit flies, launched by the United States in a V-2 rocket suborbital flight on February 20, 1947. The flies were recovered alive.
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