When was the first mammal sent into space?

The first mammal launched into space was a rhesus monkey named Albert II, who flew on a U.S. rocket in 1949 and reached space but did not survive reentry. The Soviet dog Laika became the first animal to orbit Earth in 1957, and many mammals followed in later missions. These early flights helped researchers understand the effects of weightlessness and radiation on living bodies. They were crucial steps before human spaceflight.