Laika
On November 3rd, 1957, Laika ( Лайка), a Soviet dog, became the first animal to orbit the Earth.
Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 to study the impact of spaceflight on living creatures. Some scientists believed humans would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so engineers viewed flights by animals as a necessary precursor to human missions.
The experiment proved that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.
As the technology for a de-orbital burn and safe return to Earth's atmosphere was not yet developed, Laika's mission was a one-way trip. Sadly, but expectedly, Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload.
Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 to study the impact of spaceflight on living creatures. Some scientists believed humans would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so engineers viewed flights by animals as a necessary precursor to human missions.
The experiment proved that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.
As the technology for a de-orbital burn and safe return to Earth's atmosphere was not yet developed, Laika's mission was a one-way trip. Sadly, but expectedly, Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload.
On April 11, 2008, Russian officials unveiled a monument built near the military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.
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