WEBVTT - Why Were Fruit Flies the First Animal in Space?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here on February seven, the humble fruit

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<v Speaker 1>fly boldly went where no Earth creature had gone before,

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<v Speaker 1>into space, of all things. The historic trip was made

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<v Speaker 1>on a rocket originally designed by Nazis Easy. Towards the

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<v Speaker 1>end of World War Two, American soldiers seized a number

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<v Speaker 1>of German V two ballistic missiles, along with enough component

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<v Speaker 1>pieces to fill three hundred train cars. The V twos

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<v Speaker 1>were high tech, long range weapons that could fly at

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<v Speaker 1>a top speed of thirty five hundred miles per hour

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<v Speaker 1>that's about fifty six hundred kilometers per hour and hit

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<v Speaker 1>targets standing as far as two hundred miles that's three

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers away. Uncle Sam's military realized that V two's had

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<v Speaker 1>great scientific potential. In ninety six, the Armed Forces began

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<v Speaker 1>test firing them at the White Sands Missile Range in

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<v Speaker 1>New Mexico. Even back then, there was an interest in

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<v Speaker 1>the possibility of putting a man in outer space some day,

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<v Speaker 1>but first some major technical questions needed answering. For starters,

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<v Speaker 1>scientists wondered if exposure to cosmic radiation would harm potential

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<v Speaker 1>future astronauts, So, starting in nineteen forty six, the military

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<v Speaker 1>launched a series of biological samples into space on V

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<v Speaker 1>two rockets. Seeds from corn rye and other plants were

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<v Speaker 1>sent skyward, often reaching heights of eighty miles that's a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred thirty kilometers or more above the ground. Most, but

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<v Speaker 1>not all, of these were recovered post launch and thoroughly

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<v Speaker 1>examined by scientists working with the U. S. Navy. According

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<v Speaker 1>to the Office of Naval Research, the White Sands Missile

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<v Speaker 1>Range didn't manage to send animals into space until ninety seven.

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<v Speaker 1>On February twenty that year, a V two loaded with

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<v Speaker 1>fruit flies traveled sixty seven miles that's a hundred nine

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers up into the atmosphere. NASA currently recognizes the altitude

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<v Speaker 1>of sixty six miles or a hundred kilometers as the

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<v Speaker 1>point where space officially begins. Therefore, those bugs are considered

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<v Speaker 1>the first animals to ever visit the final frontier. But

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<v Speaker 1>why were fruit flies chosen for this cosmic journey? Genetically,

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<v Speaker 1>their species has way more in common with Homo sapiens

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<v Speaker 1>than you might think. Around of all of the disease

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<v Speaker 1>causing genes present in humans, have analogs in the fruit

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<v Speaker 1>flies genetic code. Studying fruit flies can therefore teach us

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about our own genetic makeup, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>big reason the insects are so popular among biological researchers.

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<v Speaker 1>It's also the reason that the White Sands missile range

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to see what would happen to them in outer space.

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<v Speaker 1>On the V two's descent back to Earth, a capsule

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<v Speaker 1>containing the fruit flies broke away, and a parachute slowly

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<v Speaker 1>lowered it down onto New Mexican soil. The scientists were

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<v Speaker 1>relieved to see that the fruit flies were still alive, and,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps more importantly, that the cosmic radiation had had no

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<v Speaker 1>genetic effect on them. In other words, the insects had

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<v Speaker 1>not been mutated in space. That encouraged biologists to launch

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<v Speaker 1>other animals on V two excursions. By the time NASA

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<v Speaker 1>was founded in ninety eight, America had sent numerous hamsters, mice,

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<v Speaker 1>and monkeys into space, though sadly many of them did

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<v Speaker 1>not make it back alive. However, this research and their

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<v Speaker 1>sacrifice has paved the way to the amazing exploration being

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<v Speaker 1>done today. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler clang Her. More on this and lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other genetically similar topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot com.