posted on Jun, 28 2011 @ 04:43 AM
Tehran conducts missile tests as Iranian space agency announces proposed mission to launch monkey into orbit.
Iran has unveiled the next stage of its space programme, saying it is going to send a monkey into space next month.
Five monkeys were undergoing tests before one was to be selected for the flight on board a Kavoshgar-5 rocket, the head of Iran's space agency was
quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency on Monday.
Animals have a long history of space travel.
In 1948, NASA began putting monkeys aboard its rockets. Most of them died and are still considered the unsung heroes of the space race
Farouk Baz, a director of space research at Boston University, told Al Jazeera that Iran's announcement was intended to showcase Iran's homegrown
space industry.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, said last August that Iran planned to send a man into space by 2017.
A spokesman said the war games tested long, medium and short-range missile capability on ground and sea targets.
Last week, Iran launched its second domestically built satellite into orbit, the Rasad 1 (Observation), which it said was for transmitting images and
weather forecasts.
Western countries are concerned that the long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be used to launch atomic
warheads.
Tehran denies such suggestions and says its nuclear work is purely for peaceful use.
LINKedit on 28/6/11 by Freedom_is_Slavery
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