What do you think of this fact?
Who was first to fly around the Moon? Most people think of the Apollo 8 crew. The real answer is slower, armored and eats lettuce.
Passengers with shells
In September 1968, the Soviet Union was in the race to the Moon, and it wanted to know whether living things could survive a trip there and back. So it launched the probe Zond 5 with 2 tortoises on board. According to Guinness World Records, they were Horsfield’s tortoises, Testudo horsfieldii, and they didn’t have names.
They weren’t completely alone. According to Astronomy, some worms, flies and plant seeds came along too. On September 18, 1968, Zond 5 circled the Moon, which made the tortoises the first animals ever to do so.
A detour on the way home
The plan was to land in Kazakhstan. Instead, the capsule came down in the Indian Ocean on September 21. The tortoises apparently took it in stride. According to Guinness, after recovery they had lost about 10 percent of their body weight but showed no other ill effects and still had their appetite.
For spaceflight, this was an important step. Zond 5 was meant to show that a crewed flight to the Moon was possible. Humans followed a few months later: according to Astronomy, Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon.
So the first lap around the Moon by living things from Earth didn’t go to an astronaut in a helmet. It went to two reptiles that probably need half a minute to cover a meter.
Bonus fact: According to Guinness, Zond 5 was also the first spacecraft ever to fly past the Moon and return to Earth.
The race to the Moon was won by a tortoise. Aesop would be proud.