On June 14, 1949, V-2 launch No. 47 at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico carried Albert II to become the first primate and first mammal in space
Albert II was a male rhesus macaque monkey who was the first primate and first mammal in space. He flew from Holloman 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 reentry 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 the Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base and organized with the help of Holloman Air Force Base, followed the likely preflight death of Albert I before a 39 mi (63 km) high mesospheric flight aboard a V-2 rocket on June 11, 1948. The capsule was redesigned in-between flights to enlarge the cramped quarters experienced by Albert I.
Before Albert II the only previous known living beings in 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.
