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美國阿拉巴馬州有一個很特別的墓地，人們在墓碑前放置的並不是一束一束的鮮花而是香蕉。墓碑上寫着:「松鼠猴貝嘉小姐，於1959年5月28日成為首隻成功進入太空並安全回歸的動物」。50年前貝嘉與一隻名為愛寶的恆河猴飛上離地面580公里的高空，經歷9分鐘無重狀態後安全降落在大西洋海面，比人類征空還早了兩年。唯一不幸的是，愛寶在返回地面後幾天便在實驗室內一項手術中死亡，貝嘉則在火箭及太空中心繼續活了25年，是美國兒童熟悉的太空英雌。貝嘉最終死於腎臟衰竭，享年28歲。其實貝嘉並非最早征空而安全回返的生物。早在1947年，美國科學家已經把果蠅送進太空，只不過果蠅始終不及頑皮和討人喜愛的猴子來得有新聞價值。至於第一隻動物繞地球飛行的榮譽則屬前蘇聯的太空狗萊卡所有。
Planet of the Apes, a first episode
In Huntsville, Alabama, there is an unusual grave where, instead of flowers, people leave bananas. The gravestone reads: "Miss Baker, squirrel monkey, first U.S. animal to fly in space and return alive. May 28, 1959." When Baker made her flight, she had a companion, a rhesus monkey named Able. Able and Baker were shot about 580 km up into space and experienced about nine minutes of weightlessness. Their safe return occurred two years before any humans flew into space. Unfortunately, Able died just a few days later, during a medical procedure to remove an electrode. But Baker lived another 25 years. Able and Baker were not the first living creatures to return to Earth alive from space. In 1947, the United States sent up fruit flies. But fruit flies just were not good enough to make headlines.
■甄枝強 資深天文愛好者
圖片來源：NASA
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