Laika

40 years after the Bolshevik revolution, Russia had seen massive changes. Under the reign of many different leaders the country had been shaped to what it was known as in the sixties: a glorious and powerful soviet nation contrasting to the western, namely the US. Alongside the unrest of the cold war, another battle hastily took form: conquering space.

On October 4, 1957, over two thousand kilometers from Kreml, Sputnik 1 was launched from a remote location in Soviet-ruled Kazakhstan. It was the first unmanned satellite to orbit the earth, and a great success for the USSR. This ignited the space race, and the next step would be to have human beings in space. Both American and Russian scientists were intensively researching the possibilities of launching man into space. This would require many more technicalities than an unmanned vessel, and technology was primitive at the time.

Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow was chosen to be the subject of the next flight. Together with two other dogs, she was trained extensively prior to the launch. The success of Sputnik 1 made the Soviet leaders very optimistic, so much that the only gave a months notice before the launch of Sputnik 2, which would contain a living dog. The launch would then take place on the exact day of the 40 year anniverseyr of the Bolshevik revolution. This extremely short notice gave the project an unforseen pressure, which resulted in tragic decision: Laika was deemed for a one-way trip.

November 3, 1957.
Sputnik 2 launches successfully, onboard is cosmonaut dog 'Laika'. The satellite reaches space, but some of the thermal insulation is torn in the flight. This made the cabin temperature rise considerably. After three hours of flight, Laika's biological functions settles to near normal after the stressful launch. Succeeding four orbits around the Earth, no further life signs are received from the satellite; Laika is dead, supposedly of overheating. Laika became the first animal to be successfully launched into space and orbit the earth.

After the fall of Soviet Union, scientists who participated in the project admitted that the project was a subject to extreme political pressure. The launch was far more important politically than scientifically, and sadly Laika was the casualty. As one of the participating scientists expressed it: "We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."