Road Kill

I didn't have much time to blog today, but while I was sitting through a very boring family dinner, I found myself wondering why are there dozens of dead animals floating in space?

Before space programs started sending people up into orbit, scientists couldn't agree on what it would be like for a living organism to leave Earth's atmosphere. What would be the effects of weightlessness on a mammal? How would the body handle radiation from the sun? Instead of sending people up in such a risky situation, the United States and Russia sent monkeys, chimps, dogs and other animals into space in order to analyze such effects.

So these furry heroes of space exploration are now a sort of cosmic road kill. By the way, have you ever made up stories to go with the roadkill you pass on the road? I guess for some people it's a macabre hobby.