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| Discoverer 3 launch cover with Goldcraft cachet, postmarked Vandenberg Air Force Base, June 3, 1959. |
1959-06-03 USA Discoverer 3
Three black mice were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Discoverer 3 as cover for this spy satellite in the Corona series, the first Discoverer mission to carry live animal passengers. They died when the Atlas upper stage was purposely fired downward into the Pacific.
(Reference from Discoverer 3)
