On Mars: Animals in Space

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The first animals to reach space were fruit flies that the United States launched aboard captured German rockets in 1947. The first mammal to reach space was a rhesus monkey named Albert II， who flew two years later.

Both these missions were suborbital， as were all animal flights for about a decade. The first animal to orbit Earth was Laika， a dog launched by the Soviet Union in 1957 who died in orbit. The first animals to orbit Earth and land safely were the host of animals on the Soviet Sputnik 5 mission in 1960， led by dogs Strelka and Belka.

In these early days of rocket science， no one knew what spaceflight was like. Engineers flew animals， particularly dogs， monkeys and chimps， to learn how to launch and land living beings safely and to better understand how spaceflight might affect human bodies.

Since then， animals continue to play an important role in understanding the impact of microgravity on many biological functions. Astronauts have studied all kinds of animals— wasps， beetles， tortoises， flies， worms， fish， spiders， rabbits， bees， ants， frogs， mice， crickets， rats， minnows， snails， moths， brine shrimp， jellyfish， butterflies and cockroaches， among many others.

Now that scientists want to travel to Mars，what creatures will they send up to explore the effects of the long voyage and the conditions on the planet if they reach it？

What do you think of sending animals into space？

如果将来有一天人类可以移居火星，你有幸成为其中一员，那么到了火星，你会选择做什么样的工作呢？做建筑师，在极寒的火星建造保暖的房屋？或者是当农民，在火星上研究并种植农作物？请充分发挥你的想象力，说说你在火星的理想工作。（剩余1910字）