But they were not the first earthling to do so.
The Zond-5 spacecraft is being prepared for flight.
Soviet scientists chose two Russian tortoises, each weighting about 350 grams.
The food deprivation was a part of pathomorphological and histochemical experiments.
Soviet scientists examine two steppe tortoises who’d just become the first earthlings to travel to another world.
Zond 5 launched on 14 September 1968 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The trip, however, was far from perfect.
Photograph of the Earth taken by Zond-5 from a distance of 90,000 kilometers.
The biggest scare was brought on by a small prank masterminded by Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich.
Each one of such probes was to fly around the Moon and return to Mother Earth.
A major problem was for the probes to land.
Of all probes launched only one landed safely.
We asked our engineers to link the on-the-probe receiver to the transmitter with a jumper wire.
Moon flight missions were then controlled from a command center in Yevpatoria in the Crimea.
When the probe was on its path around the Moon, I was at that center.
So, I took the microphone and said: The flight is proceeding normally, were approaching the surface…
Seconds later my report as if from outer space was received on Earth, including by the Americans.
My joke caused real turmoil.
Zond 5 was an eventual success.
