Could you take your pets to space? In the first episode of this 2-parter, Jack and Justin talk about the early years of space animals, from fruit flies to Laika. Might want to get your tissues ready: this one's a real tearjerker.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY: Mates in Space is made on Kaurna, Gadigal and Wurundjeri Country, never ceded. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We also pay respect to other First Nation peoples.

ABOUT US: Mates in Space is a podcast about how we’re going to get to space without taking all of Earth’s bulls**t up with us! Each week, your hosts Jack and Justin will tell a different space story, in preparation for Australia’s exciting new future among the stars. It’s a bit nerdy, a bit sciency, and a lot of fun.

Mates in Space is brought to you by Ampel Audio, Jack Eaton and Justin McArthur. For more info, check out our website at http://matesin.space

SOCIAL LINKS: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matesinspace
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SOURCES: 
- NASA (1998) 'A Brief History of Animals in Space': https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html 
- Wikipedia, 'Animals in Space': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space 
- Top Tenz (2010) 'Top 10 Animal Astronauts': https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-animals-astronauts-in-space.php 
- European Society of Dog and Animal Welfare (2014) 'Soviet space dogs': https://www.esdaw.eu/soviet-space-dogs.html 
- Habr (2018) 'The era of the dog: names and stories from space exploration in the USSR' (in Russian): https://habr.com/ru/post/374197/ 
- SpaceViews (1998, archived) 'Sputnik 2 - The First Animal in Orbit': https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112148/http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Sputnik2/SpaceViews%20November%201997%20Articles.htm 
- NBC (2008) 'Space dog monument opens in Russia': https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24069819 
- Collectors Weekly (2015) 'Laika and Her Comrades: The Soviet Space Dogs Who Took Giant Leaps for Mankind' https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/soviet-space-dogs-who-took-giant-leaps-for-mankind/ 

ALT TITLE: We Bought A (Space) Zoo