TEHRAN (BHN) -Iran claims to have significantly advanced its space program by successfully sending a monkey into orbit.
Iranian news channel Al-Alam reports the male monkey piloted the "Star Rug V Space Explorer" capsule to an altitude of 120 kilometers (75 miles), where he performed "numerous experiments" before safely returning to earth. The Iranian Space Agency released a photo of the monkey, below.
In a possibly-related story, residents in the small city of Masshad, Iran report a large object fell on the town's hospital building, killing 32 people and setting a neighborhood on fire. A "small, headless animal strapped to an infant seat and covered in excrement" was reported to have been found in the wreckage.
Iranian monkey pilots "Star Rug V" space capsule (Iranian Space Agency photo)