Did you know that the first living creature to orbit the Earth was a dog? On November 3, 1957, the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 launched a mongrel named Laika into …
Did you know that the first living creature to orbit the Earth was a dog? On November 3, 1957, the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 launched a mongrel named Laika into space.
Laika, a three-year-old mongrel weighing approximately 6 kilograms, was rescued from the streets of Moscow. She was being trained to cope with confined spaces and G-forces before her historic flight.
The first hours in orbit showed that Laika had survived the launch. However, due to a malfunction in the thermoregulation system, the temperature in the capsule rose to 40 degrees Celsius, and she died.
Laika's flight was one-way—there was no plan to return to Earth. This sparked outcry from animal rights activists worldwide, but the USSR considered it essential for space exploration.
Laika's data helped pave the way for Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova. Her sacrifice was a step toward understanding the impact of space, ushering in the era of human spaceflight.
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