Iran Sending Monkey to Space

The pioneering monkey could help Iran reach its goal of sending a man to space by 2017.

Iran is about to catch up to where the U.S. was circa 1950, as it plans to send a monkey to space aboard a rocket next month. Five apes are being reviewed for the gig aboard the Kavoshgar-5 rocket, but only one primate will make the cut, a process that is just begging for a Top Chef-like reality show. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to send an Iranian man into space by 2017, and the safe return of the lucky monkey would surely put the country's space program on the right track. Just last week, Iran launched its second domestically built satellite into orbit, raising the typical concerns from western powers that Iran is using its space program as a front for its nuclear armament ambitions.