Iran's rocket launch breaks no zoological barriers. Our top 10 animal space flights.

Iran’s reported launch of a rat, two turtles, and several worms into space on Feb. 2 isn’t likely to unlock any new discoveries.

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the launch an “unparalleled” scientific breakthrough, according to the official Press TV, all of these species visited space more than four decades ago.

France flew the first rat into space in 1961, and China launched mice and rats in 1964 and 1965. The Soviet Union launched the first tortoise into space in 1968, along with a few worms. In addition, among other specimens, over the years, mankind has also put Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Mexican jumping beans, and South African flat rock scorpions into space.

So why is Iran launching rats, turtles, and worms now?

“It’s a peaceful demonstration of advanced technological capabilities with national security implications,” says John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University and member of the NASA Advisory Council. The launch shows that “Iran probably has a rocket booster capable of launching warheads over the Middle East.”

Here's a video of the launch:

It was unclear if Iran launched the Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket into orbit or merely above the 100-kilometer threshold of space. It was also unclear if Iran planned to recover the animals.

According to Press TV, the rocket will transfer “telemetric data, live pictures, and flight and environmental analysis data. The Iranian Aerospace Organization (IAO) says live video transmission and the mini-environmental lab will enable further studies on the biological capsule – carrying a rat, two turtles and worms – as it leaves earth's atmosphere and enters space.”

Such an experiment could test the affects of zero-gravity on an organism’s behavior and orientation, says Logsdon, who founded GW's Space Policy Institute and served as its director from 1987 to 2008.

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