The first human moon landing happened more than 50 years ago. But did you know that human astronauts were not the first Earthlings to travel in space and circle the moon? That honor goes to two Russian tortoises and several smaller creatures that went along for the ride. On September 14, 1968, the Soviet space program sent two tortoises, along with some flies and worms, into space for a trip around the moon. NASA calls it the first successful circumlunar mission carried out by any nation. After a week-long trip, the tortoises landed on Earth by parachute in the Indian Ocean. They traveled back to Moscow on October 7. Both tortoises survived the trip but not the experiment. NASA records state that the animals were dissected on October 11, 1968, to see how their bodies were affected by the space travel. Dissection showed that the main structural changes in the tortoises were caused by a lack of food and not the space travel. The tortoises had lost about 10 percent of their body weight. But they had stayed active and showed no loss of appetite. When compared with a control group of tortoises on Earth, the space traveling creatures had a small amount of spaceflight-related atrophy. When parts of the body atrophy, they decrease in size or waste away. The experiment demonstrated that the animals could travel around the moon and survive.
Title: Animal Astronauts
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/B.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Animal Astronauts' data-article-id='5348'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='6688'>The first human moon landing happened more than 50 years ago.</span> <span data-start-time='6688' data-end-time='16938'>But did you know that human astronauts were not the first Earthlings to travel in space and circle the moon?</span> <span data-start-time='16938' data-end-time='27625'>That honor goes to two Russian tortoises and several smaller creatures that went along for the ride.</span> <span data-start-time='27625' data-end-time='44000'>On September 14, 1968, the Soviet space program sent two tortoises, along with some flies and worms, into space for a trip around the moon.</span> <span data-start-time='44000' data-end-time='52813'>NASA calls it the first successful circumlunar mission carried out by any nation.</span> <span data-start-time='52813' data-end-time='61063'>After a week-long trip, the tortoises landed on Earth by parachute in the Indian Ocean.</span> <span data-start-time='61063' data-end-time='65688'>They traveled back to Moscow on October 7.</span> <span data-start-time='65688' data-end-time='71750'>Both tortoises survived the trip but not the experiment.</span> <span data-start-time='71750' data-end-time='85833'>NASA records state that the animals were dissected on October 11, 1968, to see how their bodies were affected by the space travel.</span> <span data-start-time='85833' data-end-time='96958'>Dissection showed that the main structural changes in the tortoises were caused by a lack of food and not the space travel.</span> <span data-start-time='96958' data-end-time='102479'>The tortoises had lost about 10 percent of their body weight.</span> <span data-start-time='102479' data-end-time='108354'> But they had stayed active and showed no loss of appetite.</span> <span data-start-time='108354' data-end-time='120896'>When compared with a control group of tortoises on Earth, the space traveling creatures had a small amount of spaceflight-related atrophy.</span> <span data-start-time='120896' data-end-time='128417'>When parts of the body atrophy, they decrease in size or waste away.</span> <span data-start-time='128417' data-end-time='136042'>The experiment demonstrated that the animals could travel around the moon and survive.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/B.jpg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=16680 data-hint-location='120896' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/what_does_atrophy_mean.wav'>What does atrophy mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='to decrease in size or waste away'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/to_decrease_in_temperature.wav'><span>to decrease in temperature</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/to_decrease_in_size_or_waste_away.wav'><span>to decrease in size or waste away</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/to_grow_very_tall.wav'><span>to grow very tall</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/to_increase_in_size_and_grow_strong.wav'><span>to increase in size and grow strong</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=16681 data-hint-location='27625' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/when_did_the_soviet_space_program_send_two_tortoises_for_trip_around_the_moon.wav'>When did the Soviet space program send two tortoises for trip around the moon?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='1968'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/1958.wav'><span>1958</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/1968.wav'><span>1968</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/1978.wav'><span>1978</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/1950.wav'><span>1950</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=16682 data-hint-location='16938' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/the_first_creature_to_circle_the_moon_was_a__blank_.wav'>The first creature to circle the moon was a <span class='blank'>tortoise</span>.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='tortoise'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/monkey.wav'><span>monkey</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/tortoise.wav'><span>tortoise</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/human.wav'><span>human</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/4823/cat.wav'><span>cat</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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