Before sending a living being to space, Russians tested the trip sending a female dog.
Before inserting new vaccines or put in the market a new genetically modified product, scientists test such a product in animals.
In a TV program, from the 60s, I remember, because I saw it, this program was about different kind of contests, where participants did some tasks to win a prize.
These TV programs used to invite as well, to famous people and people with special jobs or special news, so the general audience will also be entertained with those.
It happens that one of the invited persons was a dude from NASA. He brought a monkey. This monkey was dressed as an astronaut.
He told the host of the program, that the monkey was being prepared for traveling to the Moon.
If my memory doesn't fail too much, I think this invited dude also had pictures taken on the Moon. It shows that no stars can be seen from the Moon surface.
This is not new, because Russians have been also taking pictures on the Moon surface using robots, same as NASA did before Apollo 11.
Point is, why NASA never revealed the whereabouts of the monkey they sent to the Moon? Did NASA sent the monkey to the Moon?
Yes? And, what happened?
No? Then, why?
Was the first earth being reaching the Moon a monkey?
Was it a complete disappointment when the monkey died in the middle of the way because radiation or similar far away earth's environment?
No one knows, but sending astronauts to the Moon before any previous tests providing a kind of guarantee that those people will survive such a mission, or NASA was very bold or NASA was very stupid.
I think that faking a mission was very stupid.