Russia remembers Laika the space dog
Published: 03 November, 2007, 07:08
Fifty years ago, at the start of the Cold War space race, the first living creature ventured beyond the Earth's atmosphere. On November 3, 1957, just a month after the first satellite entered space, a stray dog called Laika started on a journey of no retu
Following the success of Sputnik, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted a second spacecraft launched within the month to mark the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Sputnik 2 wasn't designed to return to earth. So Laika's fate was sealed.
“We said goodbye and apologized in front of her. We were so sorry, we knew there was no way of bringing her back. But we needed to determine the possibility of a complex living creature functioning in space,” Ada Kotovskaya from Moscow’s Institute of Medical Problems recalls.
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It was a very sad thing, to send an innocent dog into orbit to die of stress and overheating. Oleg Gazenko later admitted that her death was in vain, because they did not get enough information from her, to justify sending her. She was harnessed in a tiny area where there was no room for her to move, she could only stand, sit, or lay down. I can't imagine her fear during liftoff, when the rocket was pulling 6 g's, and making extremely loud sounds. Then the additional shock of weightlessness, the fearful shaking, and the extreme heat conspired to kill her. I remember learning about Laika as a child, and feeling such sadness that it was a one way flight for her. I imagine myself in her position, and it's horrible: The launch, orbiting, knowing that I was not coming down (She had to know, dogs can sense those things), and the horrible heat that she couldn't escape. They should have at least set up a way to safely euthanize her by remote control, so that she didn't have to suffer, and could die a painless death. She was a pitiful, but very courageous little dog that will be remembered forever as the first creature into space, and she certainly deserves the many statues and memorials in her memory.
I read about Laika too. It was a terrible thing for this poor innocent dog to die like this. I was saddened to read about this in school . I understand that the Russians wanted to see if a creature could survive. It shouldn't have been a dog, There should have been heavy fines to the Russians for even trying this. Shame on Them!!! I will inform more people of what Russia did. I also read that the Russians sent more animals into space. Two of the dogs came back alive. Stop the Insanity!!