The first living creature to reach space was not a human, but a Russian dog named Laika. But his fate was unfortunate and even led to the regret of many scientists.

Currently, Laika has tributes, statues, and went down in history as a necessary sacrifice for advancements that enabled man to reach the Moon. But several scientists working on his project say they regret what happened.

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During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR, now Russia) clashed ideologically. Both countries had teams of scientists and astrophysicists working on how to get humans to the Moon, whether to spy or to conquer places outside Earth.

1957 was the year the USSR decided to demonstrate its progress and launched an artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space in October. The device reportedly has sensors that measure both indoor and outdoor temperature and is sent as a way to collect data for future launches.

Sputnik 1 was a success for the USSR and a defeat for the USA. Therefore, Nikita Khrushchev, who was the leader of the USSR at that time, decided that their progress would not end there: a living entity would be included in the next version.

Space dog Laika

With Khrushchev’s order to send anything alive into space, scientists began looking for stray dogs with which they could experience the conditions in which a human could live in space.

They sought stray dogs, as they had to be animals that could withstand sudden temperature changes and starvation in space, according to the records of the time. Also, it wasn’t the first time dogs have been used for this type of experiment.

This is how three stray dogs Laika, Algina and Mushka came to the USSR’s space exploration to begin their training.

November 3, 1957 – Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. The first animal to orbit the ship is a dog named Laika.

Photo by Sputnik / Alamy pic.twitter.com/Obiuui1asx

— Engineering World (@engineers_feed) November 3, 2021

First, they were confined to a small space to fit into Sputnik 2, where they were to be launched into space. However, the dogs did not respond well and began to present health problems, but none were considered very serious.

Animals were also placed in centrifuges to simulate what would happen with a rocket launch that caused an increase in heart rate.

The scientists even used machines that mimicked the sounds they heard after taking off so the dogs adapted to them and began feeding them a gel food they could access in space.

Although animals continue to show signs of stress that can seriously affect their health and Sputnik 2 is not yet complete, Khrushchev announced that the satellite will be in orbit on November 7, a national celebration day.

Laika Лайка A Soviet space dog, one of the first animals in space and the first animal to orbit Earth (c. 1954 – November 3, 1957) #restoration # restored #ai #artificial #intelligence #Python #deoldify #colored #date #nostalgic #stale #Space #discovery #dog pic.twitter.com/ZSIZvEfDYI

– Wasfi Akab (@WasfiAkab) 30 June 2022

Laika’s victim

On November 3 of the same year, Laika, wearing a space uniform and looking skyward, was launched into space inside Sputnik 2.

For a long time it was believed that the dog would be euthanized a few days after leaving Earth, before running out of oxygen, as the USSR reported; but the truth of his death came to light later.

According to the confessions of some scientists, long after Laika died, the fact is that she died five to seven hours after launch, due to the high temperatures recorded in her cabin, in addition to the fact that the dog’s body was never fully functioning. He adapted to the conditions in which he lived in Sputnik 2, which stressed him out a lot.

November 3, 1957. Laika becomes the first dog to orbit the Earth with the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2. The aim was to test the feasibility of launching a human into space. Unfortunately, he died shortly after launch due to oxygen deprivation. pic.twitter.com/Od0BKBnrNL

— prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) November 3, 2021

Dmitr Malashenkov, a scientist who was part of the project, commented that “it was almost impossible to establish reliable temperature control in such a short time”, referring to the construction, in a paper presented at the World Space Congress in Houston, USA, years later. 2 of Sputnik.

So, in part, when Laika left Earth, few scientists were sure she would return.

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Actually, medium information He reported that one of the people working on the experiments took him to play with his children days before he went into space, because he knew the pet had a few days to live, and he felt sorry for it.

Oleg Galensko, who was part of the team that trained him, spoke about the guilt that Laika felt after her death. His words were: “As time goes on, I regret what happened more and more. We shouldn’t have, we didn’t even learn enough to justify losing the animal on that mission.”

Unfortunately, not even the remains of Laika remained, as Sputnik 2 disintegrated upon contact with Earth’s atmosphere after 163 days in Earth orbit.

today’s dog is laika! (he) laika was the first animal to be sent into space. It was sent by Russian scientists in 1957 on a ship called the sputnik 2. He sadly passed away just a week after he went into space. pic.twitter.com/PRwcxXEpsp

— dog of the day (@doggy of the day) March 18, 2022

Laika and her tributes

At the time, the dog’s death was criticized by some people who did not believe it was necessary to sacrifice animals to study conditions in space.

Currently, many dogs use his name, veterinary centers, pet brands, songs, poems, etc. There is also a bronze statue in the center of Moscow depicting the breedless dog with pointed ears, a white muzzle, and friendly eyes that precedes any human in space.

Some scientists who worked on the project that sent him into space remember him as a noble, calm animal that did not fight with other dogs.

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