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| Iran Reports Sending Another Monkey Into Space | |
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| TEHRAN — Iran said Saturday that it had successfully launched a monkey into space for the second time, part of an ambitious rocket program aimed at manned spaceflight. | TEHRAN — Iran said Saturday that it had successfully launched a monkey into space for the second time, part of an ambitious rocket program aimed at manned spaceflight. |
| Iran’s state television said the country used liquid fuel for the first time to launch the rocket, named Pajohesh, meaning “research” in Persian. The monkey, a male rhesus macaque named Fargam, or “Auspicious,” returned to Earth safely, state television said. | Iran’s state television said the country used liquid fuel for the first time to launch the rocket, named Pajohesh, meaning “research” in Persian. The monkey, a male rhesus macaque named Fargam, or “Auspicious,” returned to Earth safely, state television said. |
| Television footage showed the rocket blasting off, and the monkey, strapped snugly into a seat. After reaching a height of 72 miles, the report said, Fargam’s capsule detached from the rocket and parachuted safely to Earth in a mission that lasted 15 minutes. | Television footage showed the rocket blasting off, and the monkey, strapped snugly into a seat. After reaching a height of 72 miles, the report said, Fargam’s capsule detached from the rocket and parachuted safely to Earth in a mission that lasted 15 minutes. |
| Iran often claims technological breakthroughs that are impossible to independently verify. The Islamic Republic has said it aims to send an astronaut into space. | Iran often claims technological breakthroughs that are impossible to independently verify. The Islamic Republic has said it aims to send an astronaut into space. |
| “The launch of Pajohesh is another long step getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency said. | “The launch of Pajohesh is another long step getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency said. |
| The United States and its allies worry that technology from the space program could also be used to develop long-range missiles that could be armed with nuclear warheads. But after Iran sent a monkey into space for the first time in January, Western experts said the mission appeared to have few military implications. | The United States and its allies worry that technology from the space program could also be used to develop long-range missiles that could be armed with nuclear warheads. But after Iran sent a monkey into space for the first time in January, Western experts said the mission appeared to have few military implications. |
| In the January mission, one of two official packages of photographs of the simian space traveler depicted the wrong monkey, causing some to speculate that it had died in space or that the launch did not go well. | In the January mission, one of two official packages of photographs of the simian space traveler depicted the wrong monkey, causing some to speculate that it had died in space or that the launch did not go well. |
| But Iranian officials later said one set of pictures showed an archive photograph of an alternate monkey. They said that three to five monkeys were simultaneously tested for flights and that two or three were selected as finalists. The one best suited for the mission is then chosen. | But Iranian officials later said one set of pictures showed an archive photograph of an alternate monkey. They said that three to five monkeys were simultaneously tested for flights and that two or three were selected as finalists. The one best suited for the mission is then chosen. |