Laika, a Moscow street dog, became the first creature to orbit Earth, but she died in space. Jump to: Laika's origins.
Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik 2 (including Laika's remains) disintegrated during re-entry on 14 April 1958.
Is Laika the dog still in space? No, Laika is not still in space. After orbiting the planet over 2,000 times, Sputnik 2 eventually fell back to Earth in 1958.
Laika had actually survived only about five to seven hours after liftoff before dying of overheating and panic. It was belatedly made known that Laika's pulse rate, which had been measured with electrodes, tripled during takeoff and only came down somewhat during weightlessness.
“There was no capability of returning a payload safely to Earth at this time, so it was planned that Laika would run out of oxygen after about 10 days of orbiting the Earth. Because of the thermal problems she probably only survived a day or two,” it said.
She died alone, she died terrified, and she never knew why. She was the first little canine cosmonaut whose ultimate sacrifice turned dreams of human space travel into reality. For a long time Laika's death was a top secret.
During the launch, her pulse shot up to three times its normal rate and she was so terrified that it remained elevated for an extended time. Temperatures inside the tiny spacecraft quickly soared, and within hours, she cooked to death—all alone and in severe pain. What Laika was subjected to was cruel and inexcusable.
Initially, Soviet publications claimed that the dog died, painlessly, after a week in Earth orbit. But that account has been called into question over the years. "Decades later, several Russian sources revealed that Laika survived in orbit for four days and then died when the cabin overheated," Zak wrote.
After news of Laika's launch spread, the Soviet government alternatively claimed that she had died from a lack of oxygen or been euthanized early. Years later, one of the mission's scientists admitted Laika had died by overheating due to a mechanical problem in the spacecraft, a much less desirable way to go.
On November 3, 1957, she was fired into space. No animal before Laika ever left the Earth. No animal had been so alone, so isolated. On the ground, 610 miles below, the scientists who were her family watched telemetry heart rate data that showed the stress Laika felt.
Officially, Laika was poisoned through her food after about a week to prevent a painful death when reentering the Earth's atmosphere.
Laika's heart rate, which was 103 beats per minute prior to launch, more than doubled to 240 beats per minute as the rocket accelerated toward orbit.
According to Animals In Space by Colin Burgess and Chris Dubbs, the Soviet Union launched dogs into flight 71 times between 1951 and 1966, with 17 deaths. The Russian space program continues to use animals in space tests, but in every case except Laika's, there has been some hope that the animal would survive.
Laika was born in 1954 in Moscow, Moscow Federal City, Russia, and died November 3, 1957. Laika is buried in Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, USA.
In space or fell back to earth? The Wikipedia article Laika says: "Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik 2—including Laika's remains—disintegrated during re-entry on 14 April 1958." Excessively cremated.
Like every other dog that had traveled to space before Zvyozdochka, she was a stray dog found on the street.
In 1960, two dogs, Belka and Strelka, survived an Earth orbit aboard a Soviet Sputnik spacecraft, becoming the first living creatures to circle the Earth and come back alive.
There was enough food and water to sustain Laika for seven days, no more. As it turned out, she barely survived six hours. Sometime during her fourth orbit, she died when her cabin overheated.
Space Dogs uses archival footage to tell the story of the clever, docile, and doomed Moscow street dog Laika, the first mammal to go into orbit—and the first mammal to die there.
The name Laika is girl's name meaning "little barking one". The name of the first dog in space is the quintessential Russian dog name, equivalent to Fido or Rover.
Laika. Laika was a young, part-Samoyed terrier found as a stray in Moscow. She was chosen as the Soviet scientists believed a homeless animal would be better equipped to endure the cold, hunger and harsh conditions of space travel.
Miacis did not leave direct descendants, but doglike canids evolved from it. By about 30 to 40 million years ago Miacis had evolved into the first true dog—namely, Cynodictis. This was a medium-size animal, longer than it was tall, with a long tail and a fairly brushy coat.
But the story of Laika had a dark lie at its core. In 2002, forty-five years after the fact, Russian scientists revealed that she had died, probably in agony, after only a few hours in orbit.
She died from overheating in the ship during the launch process. Laika's body was also never recovered, as the ship was destroyed as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere.
To be sure, the use of animals to test human survival in space has caused controversy: Even though animals have been successfully used to pave the way for space exploration, without in most cases loss of life or hurting the animal, many feel this is the wrong approach, that other methods should be used – the argument ...