

In a well-timed propaganda effort, it fell just before the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution on 7 November. Laika, a dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on /w9yF1YRYBW- Contact Light November 2, 2017įor Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Laika's voyage was yet another space feat to discomfit the Americans. "Those nine orbits of Earth made Laika the world's first cosmonaut - sacrificed for the sake of the success of future space missions," says Kotovskaya, who remains proud of her pioneering work as a scientist training Laika and other early space animals. It followed the first ever Sputnik satellite launch earlier that year.īut things did not go exactly to plan and the dog was to survive for only a few hours, flying around the Earth nine times. The Soviet Union sent Laika up into space in a satellite on 3 November 1957 - 60 years ago. The former street dog was about to make history as the first living creature to orbit the Earth, blasting off on a one-way journey.

There were no plans to return her to Earth, and she lived only a few hours in orbit.MOSCOW - "I asked her to forgive us and I even cried as I stroked her for the last time," says 90-year-old Russian biologist Adilya Kotovskaya, recalling the day she bid farewell to her charge Laika. Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow. Sputnik 2, launched on November 3, 1957, carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be shot into space and orbit Earth. There were no plans to return her to Earth, and she lived only a few hours in orbit. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote in a book about Soviet space medicine, as quoted by the AP. He even brought her home to play with his children before she began her space odyssey. One of Laika's human counterparts in the Soviet space program recalled her as a good dog. What does Laika mean in Russian?īarker Laika (from Russian: Лайка, meaning " Barker", as well as being a dog breed) was a Russian space dog that became the first living creature from Earth to enter orbit. The dog was expected to orbit the Earth, surviving for eight to 10 days, but she was never expected to return alive, according to the biologist who trained Laika. The animal, launched on a one-way trip on board Sputnik 2 in November 1957, was said to have died painlessly in orbit about a week after blast-off. The dog Laika, the first living creature to orbit the Earth, did not live nearly as long as Soviet officials led the world to believe. Laika, a Moscow street dog, became the first creature to orbit Earth, but she died in space. The Monument to the Conquerors of Space, constructed in 1964, also includes Laika. Created in 1997, Laika is positioned behind the cosmonauts with her ears erect. Laika is memorialised in the form of a statue and plaque at Star City, Russia, the Russian Cosmonaut training facility.

BirthĪnimal/Pet, Specifically: Laika's remains burned up during the reentry of Sputnik 2 on April 14, 1958. On November 3, 1957, Laika was launched into orbit on board Sputnik 2, the world's second artificial satellite….Laika.
