Iran fire a monkey into space

As any good Star Trek fan will know, space is the final frontier.

For years governments have been obsessed with sending people into orbit in an effort to find out more about the universe.

This has led to some iconic pictures, such as footage of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first men to walk on the moon.

However, Iran has a slightly different take on this, as it has just fired a monkey 120 km into the air before it came back to Earth.

Pictures have emerged showing the poor monkey strapped into a seat wearing a mini space suit for good measure.

Hamid Fazeli, head of the Iranian Space Agency, said: "Monkeys have similarities to humans, so by observing them in space, we can examine human factors in space."

Iran claims the reason it is carrying out these missions is to improve earthquake monitoring, imaging and improvement of telecommunications.

Posted by Mark Wilkins