Space Mice (Vergeltungswaffe 2)

The first animals intentionally sent into space were fruit flies, which traveled along with corn seeds aboard a U.S.-launched V2 rocket in mid July, 1946.

On August 31, 1950 the U.S. launched a mouse into space (137 km) aboard a V2. The U.S. launched several other mice in this decade but the first mouse was the only one which survived.