Animals have always helped people with many tasks, including space exploration. Laika became the first dog in space to make an orbital spaceflight around our planet aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik in 1957. This animal’s story is sad, as you will see below. But what’s important today is that Laika helped humanity make important discoveries about space. The first dog in space brought us valuable information, and many other animals followed it. However, the entire adventure happened at a big cost.
What happened to the dog that went into space?
Laika, the first dog to go to space lost her life there. She was a part-Samoyed, young stray terrier that the Soviets found in Moscow. Scientists thought that a homeless animal could endure anything, from the cold of space to hunger and other harsh conditions of space travel. However, since she didn’t have enough food supplies and oxygen, so Laika died in her space capsule dog carrier.
Obviously, she was trained before the launch. In fact, two other dogs, Mushka and Albina, have been tested for this flight. All three candidates were placed in cages that were gradually reduced in size for a few weeks. Laika was chosen for her space travel adventure because she had a calm temperament and resisted all pressure with grace. Vladimir Yazdovsky, the space mission’s leader, gave her the helm because she was “quiet and charming”.
How long did Laika survive in space?
Everybody loves Laika for being a dog hero that, according to open sources, survived in space for 5-7 hours. It seems the causes of her death were panic and overheating. During the launch, she had her pulse shooting up three times its normal rate. Since she was terrified, her pulse remained elevated for a long time. Her spacecraft was tiny, so the temperatures inside soared fast. Within the mentioned hours, Laika died alone, suffering severe pain. 45 years after this tragic event, one of the scientists who was responsible for this experiment said he regrets what happened. No one expected Laika to survive. Scientists had no hope that her capsule would safely return to Earth, so food or oxygen weren’t even provided for.
How was the dog spaceship designed?
Laika dog in space story would not have given humanity back valuable information if our canine friend’s space capsule hadn’t been designed for research. According to Orbital Today, this dog’s capsule had the 0.28 m3 volume. Back in those days, we didn’t have the technology we have today, and most equipment was small. Laika’s capsule was spherical and likely made of aluminum alloy, a durable metal. It featured instrumentation that monitored the dog’s vital signs and sent telemetry back to Earth.
Were There Any Other Dogs or Animals After Laika?
A week after Laika’s experiment, the Soviets sent Dezik and Liesa on new missions. Desik experiment was intended to check dog’s behavior during repeated training and launch. And while the launch was successful, the landing was not. Desik’s parachute didn’t open when supposed to. The second dog spaceship crashed because of a strong vibration that disabled the parachute deploying system. General Designer Sergei Korolev worried about this, and later, Soviet space engineers started designing rocket emergency ejection systems. Many other dogs have been sent on missions since, and each new experiment contributed its share to humanity’s star exploration efforts.
What Are Other Sources Saying About Laika?
Back in 1999, some Russian sources said that Laika died on the 4th day when her space cabin overheated. Dimitri Malashenkov, a Sputnik 2 mission scientist, says the dog died by the 4th flight circuit. However, NASA reports that Laika survived for only 2 days. Laika’s story impressed people worldwide, as she was the first living creature to orbit Earth. Laika has also captured many artists’ imaginations, leading to many cultural interpretations of her feat. Today, we have movies about this hero dog. They describe the significance and legacy of her achievements, so no one can regard her as a stray dog today.
Which Dogs Survived in Space?
While humanity was still exploring space with animals, the Soviet Union sent a few dogs on space missions. The first ones to survive our planet’s orbit and return home safely were Strelka and Belka. In 1966, the Soviet spacecraft Cosmos 110 took Ugolyok and Veterok into space. These two dogs stayed in orbit for 22 days and then came back to Earth safely. Chernushka with Ivan Ivanovich, a dummy cosmonaut, left for space with Cosmos 1, a masterpiece of a spacecraft, and then returned home alive. Then, there’s Zvezdochka, a dog that helped test human spacecraft life-support systems.
All these dogs and the first dog in space specifically made a great contribution to human spaceflight. They helped us expand our understanding not only of the challenges beyond our planet’s atmosphere but also of space travel in this harsh environment
