Created  A U G U S T   2 0 1 0   -   Last Updated  J U N E   2 0 1 3

Biological Packages of the American Space Program

 
Flights in the first era ranged from as low as 71 kilometers in altitude to 480 kilometers.  Generally speaking today, "Over 100 km" or just above 62 miles, is considered the beginning of "Space."
1946 - 1947 Balloons  Fungal spores and Drosophila fruit flies flown to study effects of cosmic radiation in the upper atmosphere.
1947 - 1948 V2 Rocket Corn seeds and Drosophila fruit flies flown to determine need for elements of life support systems.
June 11, 1948 V2 Rocket Albert the Rhesus Monkey flown to study effects of acceleration; suffocated during flight.
June 14, 1949 V2 Rocket Albert II the Rhesus Monkey flown to study physical effects but died on return impact to Earth.
Sep 16, 1949 V2 Rocket Albert III the Cynomolgus Monkey flown on attempted launch but died at 35,000 feet when V2 exploded.
Dec 8, 1949 V2 Rocket Albert IV the Rhesus Monkey flown to study physical effects but died on return impact to Earth.
1948 - 1952 V2 Rockets Mice, in addition to the monkeys, were flown to study G-forces and effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system; also, telemetric recordings of physiological measurements.
1950 - 1954  Balloons Drosophilia fruit flies, Mice, Hamsters, Cats, Dogs and Rhesus Monkeys flown to study effects of cosmic radiation and thin atmospheric conditions.
April 8, 1951 Aeorbee Albert V the Rhesus Monkey survived flight but died after parachute failure.
Sep 20, 1951 Aerobee Yorick the Rhesus Monkey and eleven mice flown to study effects of radiation and changes in cardiovascular systems; monkey and two mice died about 2 hours after landing; 9 mice survived with normal life-spans.
May 22, 1952 Aerobee Patricia and Mike the Cynomolgus Monkeys were placed in seated and prone positions respectively to determine differences in the effects of rapid acceleration (2000mph).  Mildred and Albert, white mice, were also aboard, inside a rotating drum where they "floated" during the period of weightlessness.  All were recovered by parachute; Patricia died of natural causes 2 years later and Mike died of the same in 1967.
1958 Thor-Ables Mice flown to gather physiological data during microgravity.
Dec 13, 1958 Jupiter BIOFLIGHT 1 : Gordo the Squirrel Monkey flown to study heart rate, heart sounds, body temperature and physiological effects of radiation.  Killed due to parachute mechanism malfunction.
May 28, 1959 Jupiter BIOFLIGHT 2 : Miss Baker the Squirrel Monkey and Able the Rhesus Monkey flown to monitor same measures as Bioflight #1, also muscle performance by electromypograms.  Able died days after during surgery to move a medical electrode; Baker survived until 1984.
Dec 4, 1959 Little Joe 2 Sam the Rhesus Monkey flown to test Mercury Program life support equipment.
Jan 21, 1960 Little Joe 1B Miss Sam the Rhesus Monkey to test emergency procedures aboard spacecraft and launch escape system.
Oct 13, 1960  Atlas 3 Three Mice flown to gather physiological data during microgravity.
Nov 10, 1961 Atlas 32E Goliath the Squirrel Monkey died in rocket explosion.
Dec 20, 1961 Atlas 6F Scatback the Rhesus Monkey survived sub-orbital space flight but was lost at sea after splashdown.
   
Flights in this era took a leap into the 250 - 650 kilometer altitude range.
Jan 31, 1961  Mercury 2 Ham the Chimpanzee flown to study cardiovascular response to sub-orbital space flight, and higher-primate reaction to weightlessness.  Ham recovered and survived to age 26, dying in 1983 of natural causes.
May 5, 1961 Freedom 7 Human Alan Shepard flown to monitor physiological response to sub-orbital space flight and brief manual control of craft.
July 21, 1961 Liberty Bell 7 Human Gus Grissom flown to monitor physiological response to sub-orbital space flight and new command control systems.
Nov 29, 1961 Mercury 5 Enos the Chimpanzee flown to monitor physiological response to sub-orbital space flight, spacesuit, and environmental control systems.  Enos recovered, but died of illness a year later.
Feb 20, 1962 Friendship 7 Human John Glenn flown to monitor physiological responses and temperature conditions in first orbits around planet Earth; included consumption of food in weightlessness.
May 24, 1962 Aurora 7 Human Scott Carpenter flown to examine the general bodily adaptation process and fluid dynamics.
Oct 3, 1962 Sigma 7 Human Wally Schirra flown to examine spatial awareness and motor control in 6 orbits.  First attempt at stretching exercise with bungee-type device.
May 15 - 16, 1963  Faith 7 Human Gordon Cooper flown for an entire day, 22 orbits; first episode of sleep by an astronaut (approximately 6 hours through orbits 10 -13).
March 23, 1965 Molly Brown (Gemini III)  Humans Gus Grissom and John Young flown along with experiment to test synergistic effect of micro-gravity on sea urchin eggs.
June 3 - 7, 1965 GEMINI IV Humans Ed White and James McDivitt flown to test prolonged flight time, and to perform first (tethered, 22-minute) space walk outside a craft.
Aug 21 -28, 1965 GEMINI V Humans Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad flown to study cardiovascular conditioning; astronauts exercised as a countermeasure to minimize negative effects.  Numerous medical experiments.
Dec 4 - 18,  1965 GEMINI VII Humans Frank Borman and Jim Lovell flown to rendezvous with Gemini 6 and study Cardiovascular deconditioning, bone demineralization, calcium balance during space flight, sleep patterns, otolith function and exercising as a countermeasure.  First instance in which biological packages were allowed to remove their space suits to test environmental conditions of craft interior.
Dec 15 - 16, 1965 GEMINI VI Humans Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford flown to rendezvous with Gemini 7 (above).
March 16-17, 1966 GEMINI VIII Humans Neil Armstrong and David Scott flown along with frog egg experiment; mission terminated after severe roll, causing shutdown of maneuvering system and emergency landing.
June 3 - 6, 1966 GEMINI IX Humans Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan flown; latter conducted EVA and space suit tests.
July 18 - 21, 1966 GEMINI X Humans John Young and Michael Collins flown to establish radiation at higher altitudes could be countered.  EVA over to Agena craft.
Sept 12 - 15, 1966 GEMINI XI Humans Pete Conrad and Richard Gordon flown to dock and joint flight with Agena target vehicle, simulating lunar module rendezvous with command module following a lunar landing.  Flight also included testing of radiation effect on white blood cells.
Nov 11 - 15, 1966 GEMINI XII Humans Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin flown to test Agena docking and space suit ease-of-use.  Mission included frog egg growth experiment.
Dec 14, 1966 BioSatellite I In a program marking the first major effort by the US to study biological processes in space, BioSat1 carried 13 experiments in developmental biology, plant biology and radiation effects on bacteria, fungus, frog eggs, beetle pupae, fruit flies, parasitic wasps, and wheat seeds.
Sep 7 - 9, 1967 BioSatellite II  Basic repeat of experiments on BioSat1, because the aforementioned was lost in atmosphere; provided first data about basic biological processes in space.
  
Jun 28 - Jul 7, 1969 BioSatellite III  Pig-tailed male Macaque Bonnie flown to study brain states, behavior, fluid and electrolyte balance and metabolism.  Mission intended for 30 days but aborted at the 9-day mark due to deteriorating health of monkey.  Bonnie died 8 hours after the flight from heart complications. 
 
Flights in this era took a leap around the moon, moving from Earth orbits to Lunar orbits.
Oct 11 - 22, 1968 Apollo 7  Humans Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham flown for 163 orbits; first experience of respiratory illness during flight and ensuing complications.

Dec 21 - 27, 1968

Apollo 8 

Humans Jim Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders flown to the moon for 10 Lunar orbits; first organisms to leave the gravitational influence of planet Earth.  Normal space adaptation syndrome, now studied more as inhabitants of the capsules could float around. Health Stabilization Program instituted.

March 3 - 13, 1969 Apollo 9  Humans James McDivitt, David Scott, and Rusty Schweickart to test backpack life support systems and other activities scheduled for moon landings in Low Earth Orbit. First (admitted) case of severe space sickness.
May 18 - 26, 1969 Apollo 10  Humans Tom Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan attained highest speed for a manned craft at the time and conducted the moon "Dress rehearsal."
July 16 - 24, 1969  Apollo 11  Humans Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins flown to land on the lunar surface; postflight quarantine established to ensure no possible biological contamination from moon.
Nov 14 - 24, 1969 Apollo 12  Humans Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean flown for second moon landing.
April 11 - 17, 1970 Apollo 13  Humans Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert flown to land on moon, but emergency complications changed journey to circumlunar orbit and return to Earth with no lunar surface activity.
Nov 9 - 15, 1970 Scout B OFO Orbiting Frog Otolith Mission - Two bullfrogs flown to study inner-ear otolith vestibular organs and neurophysiological data.  All observed changes were back to normal during the last 10-20 hours of the space flight.
Jan 31 - Feb 9, 1971 Apollo 14 Humans Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Ed Mitchell flown for third moon landing.  Hundreds of Redwood, Pine, Fir, and Sycamore seeds taken on journey, later germinated on Earth and known as "moon trees".
Jul 26 - Aug 7, 1971 Apollo 15  Humans David Scott, Al Worden, and James Irwin flown for fourth moon landing; physiological experiments investigated skeletal responses and optical functions. 
April 16 - 27, 1972 Apollo 16  Humans John Young, Ken Mattingly, and Charlie Duke flown for fifth moon landing.  Continued study of bone density percentages and function of the human eye and ear.  Nematodes also on board for study.
Dec 7 - 19, 1972 Apollo 17  Humans Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and Jack Schmitt flown for 6th and final moon landing.  BIOCORE experiment with five pocket mice also taken to study radiation effects.
May 25-Jun 22, 1973 Skylab 2  Humans Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz and Joe Kerwin (first medical doctor in space) flown on longest duration spaceflight at the time, to study fluid-electrolyte metabolism changes, cardiovascular changes, sleep patterns, exercise and space adaptation syndrome.
  
Jul 28-Sep 25, 1973 Skylab 3 Humans Alan Bean, Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma flown to conduct in-flight girth measurements, headward fluid shift, arterial blood flow, venoius compliance, hemoglobin and urine specific gravity tests; animal experiments included the first fish in space (mummichog fingerlings and eggs), pocket mice, cellular organisms, fruit flies and the first two Garden spiders, Arabella and Anita.
  
Nov 16, 73-Feb 8, 74 Skylab 4 Humans Gerald Carr, William Pogue, and Edward Gibson flown to study bones and muscles, body weight changes, tissue dehaydration, orthostatic intolerance, factors determining severity of space sickness symptoms and possibly countermeasures.
   
July 15 - 24, 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Humans Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton from the US joined humans Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov (USSR) flown on the first joint effort by space-faring nations.  Experiments included electrophoresis, height measurements, muscle response and reflexes, immunology, cardiovascular adaptation, fluid shift and endocrinology.  Mummichog fish also flown to study motion sickness.
The following section describes Russian crafts flown by the USSR upon which the USA (among other nations) also studied biological payloads.  Note the USSR flew many others, but not all have been released to the public.  These are the ones that NASA officially documents due to direct involvement.
Nov 25-Dec15, 1975 Kosmos 782 BION 3 - Carrot tissue, killifish eggs, fruit flies and rats flown to investigate development, bodily regulatory adaptations and immunology.
August 3 - 22, 1977 Kosmos 936  BION 4 - Fruit flies and Rats flown to study effects on biological stems. Evaluation of usage of a centrifuge as a countermeasure to microgravity.
Sep 25-Oct 14, 1979 Kosmos 1129  BION 5 - Quails and Rats flown to  study embryogenesis and reproduction.
Dec 14 - 19, 1983  Kosmos 1514  BION  6 - Pregnant Rats and Rhesus Monkeys flown to study development and circadian rhythms.
July 10 -17, 1985  Kosmos 1667 BION 7 - Rhesus Monkeys Gordy and Oomka, ten male rats, and ten newts flown to examine cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary adaptation processes.
Sep 29-Oct 12, 1987  Kosmos 1887 BION 8 - Rats and Rhesus Monkeys flown to study effects on biological systems and provide quantitative analysis of skeletal changes.
Sep 15 - 29, 1989  Kosmos 2044 BION 9 - Repeat of rat experiment from K1887; also, Rhesus Monkeys flown to test neuromuscular adaptations, temperature regulation and metabolic processes.
Dec 29-Jan 10, 1993 Kosmos 2229  BION 10 - Cell cultures, insects, amphibians and Rhesus monkeys flown to study musculoskeletal, neuromuscular and vestibular physiology, circadian rhythms and metabolism.
The following section describes Shuttle voyages, and note many of these "overlap" date-wise to the Kosmos satellites above.
March 22 - 30, 1982 STS-3  Columbia: Two humans flown along with plants for lignification experiment.
Jun 27-Jul 4, 1982 STS-4  Columbia: Two humans flown, who underwent neuro-vestibular studies.
April 4 - 9, 1983 STS-6 Challenger: Four humans flown; conducted first studies of orthostatic funtion during re-entry.
June 18 - 24, 19983 STS-7 Challenger: Five humans flown, including first American female (Sally Ride) in space.  Doctor on board conducted medical tests of Space Adaptation Syndrome.
Aug 30-Sep 5, 1983 STS-8 Challenger: Five humans flown, along with numerous rats, all monitored extensively for fluid shift, neuro-sensory changes, and vestibular functions.
Nov 28-Dec 8, 1983 STS-9 Columbia / SPACELAB 1: Six humans flown; each studied for vestibular, cardiovascular, fluid and electrolyte changes, as well as radiation measurements.
Feb 3 - 11, 1984  STS-41-B Challenger: Five humans flown, two of whom made first uses of MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) for un-tethered space walks.
April 6 - 13, 1984  STS-41-C Challenger: Five humans and various rodents flown to study gravitational biology.
Aug 30-Sep 5, 1984  STS-41-D Discovery: Six humans flown; flight also included the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) experiments, using living cells.
Oct 5 - 13, 1984 STS-41-G Challenger: Seven humans flown, each of whom underwent cardiovascular and neuro-sensory studies.  Flight also included First EVA by an American female.
Jan 24 - 27, 1985  STS-51-C Discovery: Five humans flown, who carried out aggregation of red blood cells experiment
April 12 - 19, 1985  STS-51-D Discovery: Seven humans flown, who conducted echocardiography experiments and Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) sample processing, using living cells.
Apr 29-May 6, 1985 STS-51-B Challenger / SPACELAB 3: Seven humans flown, who conducted experiments on exercise and fluid-loading as countermeasures for cardiovascular de-conditioning. Research Animal Holding Facility tested for stick inset eggs, 47 rodents and two squirrel monkeys. 
Jun 29 - 24, 1985  STS-51-G Discovery: Seven humans flown, upon which echocardiography and posture experiments were undertaken.
Jul 29-Aug 6, 1985  STS-51-F Challenger / SPACELAB 2: Seven humans flown, who conducted cell life sciences, endocrinology and gravitational-biology studies.
Oct 3 - 7, 1985  STS-51-J Atlantis: Five humans flown, some of whom conducted visual adaptation studies
Oct 30-Nov 6, 1985  STS-61-A Challenger / SPACELAB Deutschland 1: Eight humans flown, and experiments among different groups included vestibular sled tests, studies of fluid shifts and central venous pressure (CVP).
Nov 26-Dec 3, 1985 STS-61-B Atlantis: Seven humans flown, who conducted internal equilibrium tests, fluid shift measurements, pharmacokinetic tests, electrophoresis processing.  Also: Inoculation of bacteria experiment.
Jan 12 - 18, 1986  STS-61-C Columbia: Seven humans flown, who conducted blood pressure, electrolyte balance, pharmacokinetics and cardiovascular responses to maximal exercise.
Sep 29-Oct 3, 1988  STS-26 Discovery: Five humans flown (for first time since Challenger disaster), who conducted an experiment studying aggregation of red blood cells.
March 13 - 18, 1989 STS-29  Discovery: Five humans flown, plus rodents for bone-healing experimetns, chicken embroys for developmental studies and plants for chromosomal and cell division experiments.
Oct 18 - 23, 1989 STS-34 Atlantis: Five humans flown; also growth hormone concentration experiment in plants.
Nov 22 - 27, 1989 STS-33  Discovery: Five humans flown, who conducted (pre-, during and post-flight) echocardiography and muscle atrophy tests, as well as non-invasive cardiovascular-pulmonary measurements.
Jan 9 - 20, 1990  STS-32 Columbia: Five humans flown, who performed exercise and muscle performance studies; some conducted LBNP tests, and respirable airborne particulates testing.
Feb 28-Mar 4, 1990  STS-36 Atlantis: Five humans flown, who studied preflight adaptation and fluid loading experiments.
April 24 - 29, 1990  STS-31 Discovery: Five humans flown, some of whom conducted hyperosmotic fluid countermeasure experiments, and all underwent radiation monitoring.
Oct 6 - 10, 1990 STS-41 Discovery: Five humans flown, who examined orthostatic function tests during entry, landing and egress, postural equilibrium control tests, visual-vestibular integration studies, plus gravitational-biology studies using rodents.
Nov 15 - 20, 1990 STS-38 Atlantis: Five humans flown, who conducted boninvasive CVP and muscle performance studies.
Dec 2 - 10, 1990 STS-35 Columbia: Seven humans flown, who examined variability in blood pressure, muscle size and lipids.
April 5 - 11, 1991 STS-37 Atlantis: Five humans flown, who underwent specific radiation monitoring.
Apr 28-May 6, 1991 STS-39 Discovery: Seven humans flown, who underwent specific radiation monitoring.
June 5 - 14, 1991 STS-40 Columbia: First space mission dedicated to biomedical research.  Seven humans, 30 rodents and thousands of jellyfish flown to conduct experiments in cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, regulatory, neuro-vestibular, muscle and bone physiology in all subjects.
Aug 2 - 11, 1991 STS-43 Atlantis: Five humans flown; exercise regimens evaluated for cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function.
Sep 12 - 18, 1991 STS-48 Discovery: Five humans flown, as well as rodents for gravitational-biology  and cosmic radiation effects.
Nov 24-Dec 1, 1991 STS-44 Atlantis: Six humans flown, who tracked effects of cosmic radiation.
Jan 22 - 30, 1992  STS-42 Discovery: Seven humans flown, who operated Spacelab Mission Basic vestibular experiments.
Mar 24-Apr 2, 1992  STS-45 Atlantis: Seven humans flown, some of whom performed neuro-vestibular and performance studies, and all underwent radiation monitoring.
Jul 31-Aug 8, 1992  STS-46 Atlantis: Seven humans flown; some examined pituitary growth hormone cell function.
Sep 12 - 20, 1992  STS-47 Endeavour: Seven humans, plus Japanese carp, fruit flies, frogs, chicken embryos, fungi, cultured animal and plant cells flown to run experiments investigating health, cell separation, developmental biology, physiology and behavior, radiation and biological rhythms.
Oct 22-Nov 1, 1992  STS-52 Columbia: Six humans flown, who oversaw Canadian sponsored life sciences, biomedical experiments, as well as biotechnology studies using rodents.
Dec 2 - 9, 1992  STS-53  Discovery: Five humans flown, who underwent cosmic radiation effect monitoring.
Date "overlap" with American participation in Kosmos stops; the following section describes bio-cargo on American Shuttle voyages only.
Jan 13 - 19, 1993  STS-54 Endeavour: Five humans flown, some of whom conducted cardiovascular and musculoskeletal de-conditioning in rodents.
April 8 - 17, 1993  STS-56  Discovery: Five humans flown along with rodents for physiological and anatomical studies, tissue loss and radiation effects.
Apr 26-May 6, 193 STS-55 Columbia: Seven humans flown, who studied cardiopulmonary adaptation, gravitational biology, hormonal regulation and cell fusion in microgravity.
Jun 21-Jul 1, 1993  STS-57 Endeavour: Six humans flown, all of whom participated in studies of body posture in microgravity.
Sep 12 - 22, 1993  STS-51  Discovery: Five humans flown, who underwent radiation monitoring; also plant cell division study.
Oct 18-Nov 1, 1993  STS-58 Columbia: Seven humans flown - Second Spacelab mission dedicated to life sciences. Experiments investigating cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, regulatory, musculoskeletal systems in 48 rats.
Feb 3 - 11, 1994  STS-60 Discovery: Six humans flown, who participated in biological and immune response studies.
March 4 - 18, 1994  STS-62 Columbia: Five humans flown, some of whom monitored cell culture growth, biotechnology experiments.
July 8 - 23, 1994  STS-65 Columbia: Seven humans flown to monitor spinal changes; also numerous newts, jellyfish and daylily cells for hypogravity experiments.
Sep 30-Oct 11, 1994  STS-68 Endeavour: Six humans flown who underwent radiation monitoring; also, tests on physiological processes in spiders, centipedes and crustaceans.
Feb 3 - 11, 1995  STS-63 Discovery / Mir: Six humans flown; eleven on station... who were each tested for immune system function; also, many varied Plant studies ("Astroculture").
Jun 27-Jul 7, 1995  STS-71 Atlantis / Mir: Five humans flown; Ten humans on station, some of whom ran cardiovascular and pulmonary systems tests, neurosensory research, behavior and performance tests after long duration space flight.
Jul 13 - 21, 1995  STS-70 Discovery: Five humans flown, who examined radiation levels, effects of microgravity on embryogenisis of rats and Medaka embryos, plant growth and development.
Sep 7 - 18, 1995  STS-69 Endeavour: Five humans flown, who examined bone loss, and gravisensity of mammalian cells.
Nov 12 - 20, 1995  STS-74 Atlantis / Mir: Five humans flown, who installed/tested biomedical hardware for space station
Jan 11 - 20, 1996  STS-72 Endeavour: Six humans flown, some of whom took micro-molecular tissue samples and studied effects of microgravity on rodent metabolism and development.
Mar 22 - 31, 1996  STS-76 Atlantis / Mir: Six humans flown, some of whom completed examination of bone density, T-lymphocytes, HZE radiation monitoring.
May 19 - 29, 1996  STS-77 Endeavour: Six humans flown, who monitored an aquatic facility, studied the immune systems of rats, and monitored the effects of space flight on arthropod and plant species.
Jun 20-Jul 7, 1996 STS-78 Columbia / SPACELAB 5: Seven humans flown, who ran neuroscience, pulmonary, musculoskeletal and metabolic experiments, as well as investigations concerning human behavior and performance in space. Also, biology experiments investigating bone loss in rats.
Jan 12 - 22, 1997  STS-81 Atlantis: Seven humans flown, who were the first to see plants complete a life cycle in space: a crop of wheat grown from seed to seed.
May 15 - 24, 1997  STS-84 Atlantis / Mir: Eight humans flown, who completed life sciences investigations in fundamental biology, space station risk mitigation, and microgravity effects.
Jan 22 - 31, 1998  STS-89 Endeavour: Six humans flown, two of whom monitored CEBAS (Closed Equilibrated Biological Aquatic System)
NOTE: This mission was a biological payload milestone, when over 2,000 creatures resided on board the Space Shuttle orbiter at one time.
April 17-May 3, 1998  STS-90 Columbia / NEUROLAB: Seven humans flown, many of whom studied space adaptation syndrome, vestibular systems, adaptation of central nervous systems and the ability to sense location in the absence of gravity.  Animal containment facilities held 18 pregnant mice, 1514 crickets, 135 snails, 233 fish and 152 rats.
Oct 29-Nov 7, 1998  STS-95 Discovery: Seven humans flown, with first septuagenarian astronaut John Glenn (77), to conduct studies for the National Institute on Aging related to bone and muscle loss, balance disorders and sleep disturbances.
July 22 - 27, 1999  STS-93 Columbia: Five humans flown with the BRIC ( Biological Research in Canisters) to test effects of space flight on arthropod animals and plant specimens.  Also CCM (Cell Culture Module), for muscle, bone, and endothelial cell biochemical and functional loss induced by microgravity stress.
Dec 5 - 17, 2001  STS-108 Endeavour: Four humans flown, six already on ISS, many of whom monitored the Avian Development Facility holding quail eggs and/or the Commercial Biomedical Testing Module Animal Enclosure Module holding mice.
Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2003  STS-107  Columbia: Seven humans flown, along with silkworms, Garden Orb spiders, carpenter bees, harvester ants, and Japanese killifish for scientific study.  All perished when the orbiter disintegrated during re-entry.  Only survivors were canisters of Nematodes (C. elegans) found among the fallen debris.
Mar 11 - 26, 2008  STS-123  Endeavour: Seven humans flown, plus Bioserve SpaceLab pallet aboard for experiments.  No other details yet available from archives.
May 31-Jun 14, 2008 STS-124  Discovery:  Seven humans flown, plus Bioserve SpaceLab pallet aboard for experiments. No other details yet available from archives.
Nov 14 - 30, 2008  STS-126

Endeavour:  Seven humans flown, plus Bioserve SpaceLab pallet aboard for experiments, which included bovine embroys and porcine embryonic stem cells.

March 15 - 28, 2009  STS-119 Discovery: Seven humans flown, plus Bioserve SpaceLab pallet aboard for experiments. No other details yet available from archives.
Nov 16 - 27, 2009  STS-129 Atlantis: Six humans flown, along with spiders, butterflies and various plants.
Feb 8 - 10, 2010  STS-130  Endeavour: Six humans flown, plus Bioserve SpaceLab pallet aboard for experiments. No other details yet available from archives.
Apr 5 - 2, 2010  STS-131 Discovery: Six humans flown, along with spiders, butterflies and various plants. Also, Biological Research In Canister (BRIC) on board (petri dish storage with bacterial trials).
In the Shuttle program, only those missions with biological packages in addition to humans are listed, since it is assumed that  2-to-7 humans were always present on each Orbiter trip...UNLESS those human animal specimens conducted particular physical tests designed to estimate the effects of weightlessness on bodily systems.
So hey, did anyone actually read this entire page?  I compiled it for fun, to help me keep dates and basics straight while I researched animals in space for the month of August, 2010.  But I wonder if anyone will actually read through it so far that they see this message?  First person to email me at hra2362@yahoo.com and tell me which space mission set the world record for live creatures aboard will get a free NASA T-shirt! =)