In memory of Laika

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Laika

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The dog that would later be named Laika was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. She was a mongrel female, approximately three years old, and weighed about 6 kg (13 lb).

After the success of Sputnik 1, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, wanted a second spacecraft launched on November 7, the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

To meet the November deadline, a new, less sophisticated design had to be built. According to Russian sources, the official decision to launch Sputnik 2 was made on October 10 or 12, leaving the team only four weeks to design and build the space craft.

The Soviet Union and the United States had previously sent animals only on sub-orbital flights.] Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka, and Laika. Russian space-life scientist Oleg Gazenko selected and trained Laika,

The Russian scientists had planned to euthanize Laika with a poisoned serving of food. For many years, the Soviet Union gave conflicting statements that she had died either from oxygen starvation when the batteries failed, or that she had been euthanized. There were many rumours circulated about the exact manner of her death.

In 1999, several Russian sources said that she died after four days when the cabin overheated. In October 2002, Dr. Dimitri Malashenkov, one of the scientists behind the Sputnik 2 mission, revealed that Laika had died five to seven hours after launch from overheating and stress.

Sputnik 2 was not designed to be retrievable, so Laika had always been intended to die. The mission sparked a debate across the globe on the mistreatment of animals and animal testing in general to advance science.

In the United Kingdom, the National Canine Defence League called on all dog owners to observe a minute's silence, while the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received protests even before the Soviet Union had finished announcing the mission's success.

She is one of only two figures on the Space Monument that can be named with any certainty.

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tank6b says:

Thanks for this Photo!
Posted 9 months ago. ( permalink )

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Taken in July 1985

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In memory of Laika

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