<!------>
The Thoughtful Animal
The Thoughtful Animal Home
Share 
Email 
Print
Dr. Jason G. Goldman received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Southern California, where he studied the evolutionary and developmental origins of the mind in humans and non-human animals. Jason is also an editor at ScienceSeeker and Editor of Open Lab 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @jgold85.
Dr. Jason G. Goldman received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Southern California, where he studied the evolutionary and developmental origins of the mind in humans and non-human animals. Jason is also an editor at ScienceSeeker and Editor of Open Lab 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @jgold85.
High-Flying Frog Was Not The First Amphibian To Reach For Outer Space
The internet loves animals, and loves animals in surprising places even more. So when a photo emerged showing a frog flying alongside NASA’s Minotaur V rocket as it lifted off from it’s launchpad in Virginia earlier this month carrying the LADEE spacecraft towards the moon it was an immediate hit. It has since gone viral.
It may have been, as Megan Garber put it at The Atlantic, “one small step for a frog” and “one giant leap for frogkind,” but this acrobatic amphibian was actually not the first to cross paths with spacefaring institutions like NASA. There is a long history of high-flying frogs.
Head on over to The Guardian to read the rest of my latest piece on the history of frogs in space.
And for more on space-faring animals from the Thoughtful Animal archives:
Snakes on a Plane
Header photo via NASA/Wallops/Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport – click it to enlarge.
About the Author: Dr. Jason G. Goldman received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Southern California, where he studied the evolutionary and developmental origins of the mind in humans and non-human animals. Jason is also an editor at ScienceSeeker and Editor of Open Lab 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @jgold85.
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Rights Permissions