Monkeys and apes in space

Have you ever heard of monkeys and apes going to space? It's a very interesting story, but let me explain it to you like you're five years old.

You know how we humans sometimes go into space in special ships called spacecraft? Well, a long time ago, scientists wanted to see if it was safe to send living things like animals to space first before humans. So they picked some monkeys and apes to take a trip to space.

Now, monkeys and apes are very similar to us humans, so their bodies work in much the same way. Scientists wanted to see how their bodies would react to the conditions in space, like zero gravity, radiation, and lack of oxygen.

The monkeys and apes were trained to do special tasks before going into space. They were put in special capsules that were launched into space on top of huge rockets. The capsules had everything the animals needed to survive like food, water, and air. They were also fitted with sensors to collect data on their bodies during the trip.

The first monkey to successfully make it to space was named Albert II. He was launched in 1949, but sadly he died on impact during his return to Earth. Later on, more monkeys and apes were sent to space, and some even made it back safely to Earth.

The information gathered from these experiments helped scientists learn more about the effects of space travel on living beings. It also helped in the development of human space travel so that humans could safely explore and study space.

So that's the story of monkeys and apes in space. It was a big scientific experiment that helped us learn more about space travel and how it affects living things.