SPACE

in general usage, that which is characterized by the property of extension or the ability to stretch out or extend in any direction; in astronomy, the region beyond the earth's atmosphere or beyond the solar system: outer space. The so-called actual space in which material objects exist and are perceived was regarded for many thousands of years as having three dimensions: left and right, up and down, and forward and back. This kind of space, which is measurable according to the rules of Euclidean geometry, is entirely consistent with everyday experience and with all forms of ordinary measurement of size and distance. Modern investigations in mathematics, physics, and astronomy, however, have indicated that space and time are actually extensions of the same continuum, which scientists refer to as space-time or the space-time continuum.
Before humans were launched into space, several animals, including numerous monkeys, were used to investigate the biological effects of space travel. The United States launched monkey flights primarily between 1948 and 1961 with one flight in 1969 and one in 1985. France launched two monkey space flights in 1967. The Soviet Union and Russia launched monkeys between 1983 and 1996. Most monkeys were anesthetized before lift-off. Thirty-two monkeys flew in the space program, each had only one mission. Numerous back-up monkeys also went through the programs but never flew. Sam the rhesus monkey flew to an apogee of 88 km in 1959