Astro-Dog Apollo ‘Lifts Off’ for First-Ever Space Walkies

Following in the footsteps of legendary British astronaut Tim Peake, the U.K. can be proud of its latest space hero destined for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). However, this time our latest Skywalker has a big difference – four legs instead of two!

Aptly named hound Apollo beat more than 4,000 dog applicants to take the first-ever canine place in the modern era of European Space Agency astronaut training. The selection process included taking tests to assess intelligence, obedience and fitness, and 3-year-old Apollo passed all with flying colours. A short-haired pointer, Apollo will be the first dog to reach orbit since 1957 when the legendary Soviet mongrel Laika launched in Sputnik 2.

As part of Apollo’s initial training, he has already come to grips with operating simple controls that will be mission-critical for work aboard the ISS. At the European Astronaut Centre, a through-floor domestic passenger lift from Stiltz Homelifts has been specially installed in one of the astronaut classrooms to teach Apollo self-navigation and decision-making. With the ability to ‘lift-off and ‘land’ on his own, the hound is now developing his skills further for experiments in orbit to find out how zero gravity affects animals both physically and cognitively. Training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Texas will be next – in preparation for the first-ever space dog walk.

The Stiltz directors and staff are all really excited that our home lift product is being used in such a groundbreaking and high-profile project.

Tim Peake will be remembered for all his amazing achievements in space, including running the London Marathon on the ISS treadmill — however, space-pup Apollo will be sure to give him a run for his money!

#AstroDogApollo

But is all as it seems, given that his article was released by Stiltz on 1 April 2021? Here’s the explanation:

“Stiltz were keen to do something a little different, something that was less obviously ‘promotional.’ We developed what we thought would be a completely far-fetched story about a British dog preparing to travel to NASA for ISS training but practicing prior to this in a domestic homelift. We shared it internally with staff via our social channels and our PR agency distributed it to the media. What quickly transpired was that people took the joke article at face value. What we thought would be seen as implausible was taken as genuine. In this age of ‘Fake News,’ was it just a little too believable? We might just try and sneak it out again on April 1, 2022 — with a few more clues on display that it’s obviously an April Fool!”

Were you fooled?