While there is talk of space tourists and exploration of comets, we can't forget man's best friend.
On August 19th 1960, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 5 into space.
On board were two dogs - Belka and Strelka - who were the first animals to enter space and return to earth safely.
The canines shared the capsule with some 40 mice, two rats, a rabbit, several fruit flies and some plants.
It paved the way for the first human orbital flight less than eight months later, with Vostok 1.
See footage of Belka and Strelka below:
While other dogs were launched as far back as 1951, they did not orbit.
Laika the dog, the first creature to live in space | Image: PA / PA Archive/PA Images
The dog Laika became the first living Earth-born creature in orbit in November 1957.
She was a stray in Moscow when she was captured and prepared for the space mission.
But it was revealed back in 2002 that she died between five to seven hours into the flight, from apparent panic and overheating.
Previously, it had been thought Laika survived at least four days in space.
The first mammal in space was Albert II, a Rhesus monkey, who reached a distance of 83 miles in June 1949 - but he died upon re-entry.
All the dogs sent into orbit by Russia have been female.
Why is this?
Author Damon Murray explains: "The most tricky obstacle for the dogs traveling into space was to find a way for them to relieve themselves in such unusual conditions".
He adds that all the dogs were female as there was no room in the cabin for a male dog to cock his leg.
Go figure.
