As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, I would like to pause to remember and give thanks to the fearless dogs who were among the first animals launched into space. Before humans could be sent into orbit, both the Soviet Union and the United States used animals to determine if space flight was even feasible. Of the 57 dogs trained by Russian scientists, approximately 20 dogs went into space. Most survived, some did not. I especially want to thank Laika, who on November 3, 1957, aboard the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 2, became the first mammal to orbit the earth.
Originally named Kudryavka, Laika was a Husky mixed-breed, living on the streets of Moscow. She was chosen for this mission by scientists due to her docile temperament, including her patience for being in a confined space for long periods of time while wearing a spacesuit. It was during a radio interview in which Kudryavka barked that earned her the name of Laika, “barker” in Russian. It is also a Russian word for several breeds of dog similar to a Husky. American reporters gave her the nickname of “Muttnik” as a pun on the rocket that carried her into space.
Sadly, this was a one way trip for Laika, who was used by scientists to monitor the affects of space travel on the body. Sent off with just one meal and enough oxygen for only 7 days, she passed away during that flight due to a malfunction that lead to extremely high temperatures in the capsule. As Cathleen Lewis, the curator of international space programs and spacesuits at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, explains, the use of animals in preparation for manned space flight was necessary because “there were things that we could not determine by the limits of human experience in high altitude flight.” In her article, “The Sad, Sad Story of Laika, the Space Dog, and Her One-Way Trip into Orbit” (Smithsonian.com April 11, 2018), Alice George reflects, “Ironically, a flight that promised Laika’s certain death also offered proof that space was livable.”
Laika was not the first dog to reach space. According to Space.com that honor goes to Tsygan and Dezik, who the Soviet Union had aboard the R-1 IIIA-1. Those brave cosmomutts reached space on July 22, 1951, but did not orbit. They were the first mammals successfully recovered from space flight. It is a Rhesus monkey named Albert II, who has the honor of the first mammal to reach space. Rocketed 83 miles above the planet by the United States on a V2 in 1949, Albert II passed away during re-entry due to a problem with the capsule’s parachute.
After Laika, all future missions that included dogs and other animals were designed to be recoverable. On August 19, 1960, the Soviet Union sent Belka and Strelka into space. They hold the distinction of being the first animals to return alive after orbiting the Earth. Humans did not attempt this brave feat until 1961. It was two Russian dogs, Veterok and Ugolyok, who held the record for the most days orbiting in space. In 1966 they spent 22 days orbiting the Earth in a Voskhod space capsule, a record that wasn’t broken by humans until 1971. Also, in case anyone is curious, the first cat was launched into space by French scientists on October 18, 1963. Fortunately Felix made it safely back to Earth.
Today the heroism of Laika is celebrated in books, documentaries, movies, music, art, poems, monuments, and even on Mars. The Monument to the Conquerers of Space, dedicated in Moscow in 1964, includes a bas-relief of Laika along with representatives of all those who contributed to the Soviet Union’s space program. In 1997 Laika was included in another Russian monument honoring fallen cosmonauts at “Star City” in Moscow where cosmonauts train. Later in 2015 she received recognition with her own statue at a Moscow military research facility which depicts Laika on a rocket. Also NASA paid tribute to this brave dog during a 2005 Mars Rover mission by unofficially naming a Martian crater Laika.
