LAIKA
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Context
- On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched ‘Sputnik 2’ and made history — for carrying the first-ever living creature to orbit the Earth, a dog named Laika.
Who was Laika?
- Laika was a stray dog picked up from the streets of Moscow just a week before the launch of Sputnik 2.
- The dog was promoted to cosmonaut (a term referring to an astronaut in the Soviet or Russian space program) based on her ‘small’ size and ‘calm’ demeanor.
Animals in Space
- Before humans actually went to space, one of the theories was that humans might not be able to survive long periods of weightlessness.
- American and Russian scientists utilised animals — mainly monkeys, chimps, and dogs — in order to test each country’s ability to launch a living organism into space and bring it back alive and unharmed.”
- Rocket engineers selected the animals most obedient and most tolerant of loud noises and air pressure changes for the experiment.
- Before Laika the Soviet Union had launched two dogs named Dezik and Tsygan in 1951.
- The United States launched rhesus monkeys, mice, fruit flies, and rats during the second world war.
Sputnik 2
- Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal - a dog.
- It was a 4-meter-high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters. It contained several compartments for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit, a regeneration and temperature control system for the cabin, and scientific instruments. A separate sealed cabin contained the experimental dog Laika. Laika died on the fourth orbit due to overheating caused by an air conditioning malfunction.
- Sputnik 2 continued to orbit for five months. The mission ended up providing scientists with the first data on the behaviour of a living organism orbiting in the space environment.
Note: Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth.
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