Flies in Space

Most sources (for example space.com, and Wikipedia) seem to agree that they were actually launched on 20 February 1947.

A number (such as answers.com, and this book which I found in Google Books) do say 1946, and on no less a source than NASA itself I found the words "on July 9 and 19, 1946, V–2s carried corn seeds and fruit flies aloft to expose them to cosmic radiation."

I can only conclude that these flights didn't cross the Kármán line – in other words they didn't go into space.

Not that it really matters – it doesn't affect the answer to the question. Why do I bother ... ?!

© Macclesfield Quiz League 2018