{
  "id": 7807383,
  "title": "On this day in space! Sept. 16, 1949: A US launch of a V-2 rocket explodes, killing its monkey passenger Albert III",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/on-this-day-in-space-sept-16-1949-a-us-launch-of-a-v-2-rocket",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T15:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Space.com",
    "slug": "space-com",
    "url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/on-this-day-in-space-september-16-2026"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On September 16, 1949, the United States launched a V-2 rocket carrying a macaque monkey named Albert III. This was the third attempt to launch a monkey into space, with Albert III being the third to meet an unfortunate end. Prior to this, the U.S. precursor to NASA, Project Blossom, had been conducting monkey space flights since the 1940s as part of their research into the effects of space on living organisms. These early tests were conducted at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Although Albert III was the third monkey to be tested, he was actually a long-tailed macaque, not a rhesus monkey as the other Albert monkeys were. Unfortunately, Albert III perished when his rocket exploded 10 seconds after its launch. The rocket suffered two explosions, one 10.7 seconds into flight and another 14 seconds later, likely due to leaks in its alcohol fuel system. The rocket reached a maximum altitude of only 3 miles before failing. Despite this setback, the military scientists learned valuable lessons from Albert III's launch, which helped them improve the design for future tests. In total, seven Project Blossom launch tests were conducted, with three of them ultimately failing. The first successful monkey launch occurred on September 20, 1951, with Albert VI, who was accompanied by 11 mice, achieving a successful suborbital flight aboard a new Aerobee rocket.",
  "summary": "On Sept. 16, 1949, the U.S. launched a V-2 rocket with a monkey named Albert III on board. Here's how it happened and why it mattered.",
  "key_points": [
    "US launched V-2 rocket with monkey Albert III on September 16, 1949",
    "Albert III, long-tailed macaque, died in rocket explosion",
    "Military learned from failure to improve future space tests"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}