On Sept. 15, 1968, the Soviet Union launched the Zond 5 spacecraft on a mission to loop around the moon and return to Earth. There were no cosmonauts aboard, but there were several smaller vertebrates — including the first two tortoises to ever go to space!
Other passengers included wine flies, mealworms, plants and seeds. These were the first animals in deep space and the first to travel around the moon.
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