In 1968, a year before the arrival of man on the Moon, the former Soviet Union (USSR) achieved a historic feat by sending the first living beings to the Earth’s natural satellite.
The space travelers were two turtles (Testudo horsfieldii)whose names were 22 Y 37.
At this point in the space race between the US and the USSR, sending animals into space was not a new idea. However, never before has any living creature been so far from the blue planet, almost 385,000 km.
Steppe tortoises from Kazakhstan were sent into lunar orbit on the Zond 5 probe. Photo: RSC Energy
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The Zond 5 mission: send turtles into space
On September 15, 1968, the Soviet space program launched the Zond 5 probe. Its objective was to orbit the satellite and investigate the physical changes of living beings when they approach the Moon.
The orbiter carried a large biological payload that included two steppe tortoises from Kazakhstan subjected to fasting. They also carried fly eggs, plants, seeds and bacteria.
The Zond 5 space probe is transported in a truck after its recovery, October 3, 1968. Photo:
Both reptiles were part of a group of eight turtles that were between six and seven years old and weighed between 340 and 400 grams. The other six tortoises stayed on dry land and served as a control group to monitor that the only physical effects are those of space flight.
Turtles were the perfect animals for the Zond 5 mission because they were easier to send into space, because they were resistant to a diet without food or drink, and because their major organs were similar to those of humans.
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Experiment Results
On September 21, the Zond 5 spacecraft crashed into the Indian Ocean after spending six days, 18 hours and 24 minutes in space.
The search for the module took four days and, inside, they found the turtles alive, but on the verge of starvation (they had been fasting for 39 days).
The Soviet ship Zond 5 fell into the Indian Ocean with the turtles alive, but close to fainting. Photo: SPKorolovev / RSC Energy
After taking them to Moscow laboratories, Soviet scientists determined that the ‘space turtles’ had returned 10% lighter and with a enjoy your meal.
In addition, they revealed that they did not have any significant differences from land turtles nor had they been exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
After those results, they concluded that there was no threat to a human-manned mission to the Moon.
Although the Soviets never reached the satellite — as NASA did with its Apollo 11 mission — their turtles 32 and 37 have been recorded in space history.