Fargam (''Auspicious'' in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
) was the name of a male
Rhesus macaque monkey launched into space by
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. This was Iran's second attempt at launching a monkey into space, their first attempt in 2010 had failed as the animal died in space. The news was released by Iranian state TV which also showed footage of Fargam strapped inside the rocket. Former
president Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran fr ...
congratulated Iranian Scientists afterwards, touting it as a "long step in getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space".
In 2010, Iran had successfully launched worms, a rat and a turtle into space.
Technology
The launch was conducted using domestic research (''Pažuheš'' in Persian). The rocket was reported to have reached an altitude of 120 km (75 miles) before the capsule was parachuted down. The whole mission was reported to have lasted 15 minutes.
Skepticism
Many are skeptical of the claims made by Iran as the pictures released afterwards showed two different monkeys. The animal is suspected to have died in flight, although Iran disputed the claim, saying that it was mix-up with pictures of another monkey candidate considered for the mission.
See also
*
Monkeys and apes in space
Before humans went into space in the 1960s, several other animals were launched into space, including numerous other primates, so that scientists could investigate the biological effects of spaceflight. The United States launched flights contain ...
*
Animals in space
Animals in space originally served to test the survivability of spaceflight, before human spaceflights were attempted. Later, other non-human animals were flown to investigate various biological processes and the effects microgravity and space ...
*
Iranian Space Agency
The Iranian Space Agency (ISA, Persian language, Persian: ''Sāzmān-e Fazāi-ye Irān'') is Iran's Government of Iran, governmental space agency.
Iran became an Timeline of first orbital launches by country, orbital-launch-capable nation in ...
References
Animals in space
Space program of Iran
Animal testing in Iran
Individual monkeys
{{Animal-rights-stub