Iran Claims to Have Launched a Monkey into Space

According to Space.com, Iranian state media claims that Iran has sent a monkey in a suborbital flight on board a capsule called Pishgam, which is Farsi for "pioneer." The monkey's flight is said to be a prelude for manned space flights.

Monkey flight said to be a second attempt

Space.com reports that Iran had claimed to have attempted to put a monkey into space aboard its Kavoshgar-5 rocket in 2011, which suffered an undisclosed failure. Iran launched its first satellite in 2009. In 2010 it used a Kavoshhar-3 to fly a rat, two turtles, and a worm into space. It has launched Earth observation satellites in 2011 and 2012. According to ABC News and the Associated Press, Iranian media claims that the Pishgam reached a height of 75 miles before returning successfully to Earth.

Pishgam flight to be prelude to an Iranian manned space program

Space.com suggests that the flight of the Pishgam containing a monkey is the prelude for a manned Iranian space program, with an ambitious schedule of the first Iranian in space in 2020 and a lunar landing in 2025. The Iranian Space Agency claimed that the first Iranian manned orbital flight would be "below a 200 kilometer orbit." The same report claimed that Iran has already embarked on developing a homegrown space suit and space capsule for that purpose.

International reaction to Iranian space efforts

International reaction to the reported flight of an Iranian monkey ranges from disdain -- Space.com reports that the first American monkey flew in a suborbital flight in 1948 -- to concern of the implications surrounding Iran's nuclear program. Al Arabiya, while pointing out that a suborbital flight is far less challenging that putting a monkey or a human into orbit and returning him safely, also reports that western analysts are concerned about the juxtaposition between Iran's space program and its nuclear program. The same rocket that can put a payload into orbit can deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world.

Al Arabiya also points out that Iran is pursuing its space ambitions in the face of crippling economic sanctions caused by international concern over its nuclear bomb program. The price of food in Iran is spiraling higher while the value of Iranian currency is plummeting and unemployment is soaring.

Reasons for Iranian space efforts

Besides the obvious relation with Iran's nuclear bomb program, Al Arabiya suggests that Iran is pursuing a space program to enhance its prestige. The idea is that if it can launch things into space while economic sanctions are taking place, Iran can claim to its own people that its Islamic system is superior in some fashion to that of the West as a distraction from Iran's economic and political woes. However, similar behavior by the Soviet Union did not prevent that country's collapse at the beginning of the 1990s.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-claims-launched-monkey-space-191600429.html

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