Dogs in space We remember the animals who gave their lives for our development. Astronaut dogs: four-legged heroes of the twentieth century
During takeoff, enormous overloads fell upon the dog. She was pressed into the container, but she was able to bear the load.
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60 years ago, on November 3, 1957, the second artificial Earth satellite was launched. On board the Sputnik 2 was a dog Laika, about 2 years old, which became the first living creature put into Earth orbit.
The “cosmonaut candidate” was found literally twelve days before the rocket was launched. At the last moment, the choice of scientists fell on a dog, and not on other mammals, and Laika was taken from a pet shelter. They decided not to take thoroughbred dogs, as they are less adapted to difficult conditions.
Preparations began almost immediately after the start of the space age - launch. The idea with the flight of an animal in a special spacecraft became the consolidation of the success of the Soviet Union in the space industry.
The device was designed literally "on the go", immediately bringing ideas to life. Laika also received special training. Unfortunately, everyone understood: it would be a one-way flight.
Laika is the first "Dog-Cosmonaut".
During takeoff, enormous overloads fell upon the dog. She was pressed into the container, but she was able to bear the load. Due to an error in calculating the area of the satellite and the lack of a thermal control system, the temperature inside rose to 40 ° C and Laika died from stress and overheating after four orbits around the Earth.
A special commission from the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers did not believe that Laika died due to a design error and ordered experiments with similar conditions on Earth, which resulted in the death of 2 more dogs.
Monument to Laika in Moscow.
Laika became a hero who died in the name of science. Today there are photographs of the heroic animal in every museum of astronautics and in a huge number of books about space; postcards and stamps have also been issued in her honor.
On April 11, 2008, in Moscow, on Petrovsky-Razumovskaya Alley, on the territory of the Institute of Military Medicine, where a space experiment was being prepared, a monument to Laika was erected. The two-meter monument is a space rocket, turning into a palm, on which Laika proudly stands. Laika has forever remained in the history of space exploration.
The development of the space industry was the hallmark of the USSR, an indicator of the power and progress of the state. Children were brought up in the spirit of patriotism, from an early age imbued with distorted facts of "decency and humanism." The image of the country was above all, for the sake of glorifying the merits of the state and its rulers at the same time, laboratories, engineering bureaus and research centers mercilessly destroyed animals, astronaut dogs were no exception. The study of the process of overloads, vibrations, the state of weightlessness and radiation was carried out on four-legged friends, and the patriotic people shrugged their shoulders, it must be so.
It was not for nothing that dogs were chosen for experimental launches of spacecraft. According to the PR managers of that time, rats, mice and monkeys did not make a proper, positive impression, but it was easy to make a hero out of a best friend and ally.
The selection for preparation for a space career was held exclusively among the "mutts". Pedigree dogs, according to the experimenters, would not have withstood the loads and tests. Exclusively for "practical" reasons, small dogs from shelters, with a light color or white spots, were selected for training. Small because fewer resources are needed to sustain and maintain them. Light color is the key to successful photo shoots, almost all published photos were black and white. The image makers of the country wanted the whole world to know and remember the name of the first astronaut dog and whose “merit” its feat was.
The price of a hero title
Laika is a member of the Sputnik-2 space project, the first dog put into the interplanetary orbit of the Earth. Prior to this, only one launch had been made, an “empty” simplest satellite was launched into orbit. The decision to fly the animal was made just 12 days before the start, it was the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, Khrushchev was in a hurry to spur the world community with a daring breakthrough. Flaws in the calculations and tight deadlines led to overheating and Laika died. The device returned to earth with the lifeless body of a dog, the fact was concealed from the public. On an emergency basis, tests were carried out within the framework of the institute, the result was minus two more lives. After a clear failure, the institute admitted to euthanizing the dog, the real facts of death became known after the completion of the program.
Read also: Why dogs wallow in rotten meat: reasons, assumptions, facts
A flurry of negative reviews, accusations of cruelty to animals, proposals to send Khrushchev into space, and the depressed state of the scientists who prepared Laika for the flight led to the undermining of the authority of the USSR. In order to smooth out the conflict, the Laika brand of cigarettes was released. However, this move was regarded as cynicism.
Chanterelle and Seagull- were supposed to fly on the Sputnik-5-1 apparatus. The destruction of one of the blocks of rockets immediately after the launch, led to a fall and an explosion. Affectionate and trusting Chanterelle was Korolev's favorite, but both dogs died.
Belka and Strelka- a pair of tailed astronauts who managed to return to Earth. The dogs made 17 full revolutions around the Earth, successfully withstood the overload and the effects of radiation. After the flight, the dogs stayed in the design office and died at a ripe old age. One of the Strelka puppies was presented to the Presidential Kennedy family.
Bee and Fly- made a daily flight around the Earth. At the reentry stage, due to a systems failure, the landing trajectory was distorted. The device was destroyed by an automatic system, the animals died.
Zhulka (Comet) and Pearl (Alpha, Joke)- the satellite "Sputnik 7-1" did not go into orbit. The automatic emergency release of the cabin saved the dogs, although they were not found until 3 days later. Zhulka lived 14 years after the flight and became part of the family of one of the institute's doctors.
Nigella- the first dog launched into a single flight, her company was Ivan Ivanovich - a human dummy. The dog was successfully returned to Earth, as was its "guide".
Read also: How do you get over the death of a beloved dog? Tips for adults and parents of toddlers
Asterisk (Luck)- The dog received the "cosmic" name from Gagarin. In company with an experienced Ivan Ivanovich, Luck made one revolution around the Earth and successfully returned home. 18 days after the landing of Zvezdochka, the first, short-term launch of a man into space was made.
Wind and Coal (Snowball)- participated in the preparation of a long-term human space flight, the flight lasted 23 days. The dogs survived, but on landing it was found that the animals had lost their hair, were extremely dehydrated and could not stand on their feet. The employees of the institute, who surrounded the wards with care, quickly put them in order. Dogs lived at the institute until old age and even got offspring.
This is interesting! The general designer, Korolev, was very fond of dogs. Each death was perceived by him as a personal tragedy. During the "non-working" hours, by order of Korolev and the desire of the rest of the employees of the design bureau, the dogs were provided with comfortable living conditions, constant attention and leisure. The dogs were not kept in cages or separate rooms, they had complete freedom of movement and the "internal status" of employees.
Memory for the ages
Successful flights and the tragic fate of dogs riveted the attention of the people and other countries. The whole world immortalized hero dogs in cinema, music and works of literary art, later in cartoons and computer games, their images appeared on brands and company logos. Monuments to cosmonaut dogs were erected on the territory of the former USSR and several powers that actively followed the research.
In November 1957, the USSR accomplished another feat. For the first time in history, a mammal was launched into space orbit. However, the triumph did not work out - the world sadly met a new breakthrough into space.
Laika was chosen as the first animal astronaut just 12 days before launch. At first the choice was between rats, mice, monkeys and dogs. Then the experts still settled on the best friends of man. According to legend, the leadership of the USSR believed that dogs were loved more than other mammals, so a hero dog would glorify the Soviet Union faster than a rat or a monkey. They decided to take the dog from the shelter - experts believed that thoroughbred dogs were too fastidious and would not be able to withstand long in orbit. In addition, the mongrel must certainly be of a light color in order to look good in the photo. Laika was chosen by the method of elimination: one of the applicants was simply pitied (she carried puppies), the second was decided to be kept for pragmatic reasons, since she was regularly used in research on technological equipment. There was no one to feel sorry for Laika - she was supposed to become a “suicide passenger”. The Last Victim of the October Revolution The launch of Sputnik 2 was a somewhat spontaneous decision. After the triumphant flight of the first artificial Earth satellite on October 4, 1957, the Soviet authorities wanted to quickly consolidate their success and surprise the world with a new achievement. The 40th anniversary of the October Revolution was approaching - an excellent occasion. Almost two weeks before the new "cosmic issue" from Nikita Khrushchev, they decide that now the "space animal" will "surprise" the international community. By the way, Sputnik-2 was created on the knee: there were not even any preliminary sketches. Designers designed a new spacecraft right in the shops, one might say, composing it right on the go. Of course, no one thought about the dog, which was to accomplish a feat. Everyone understood that she was doomed - the satellite was not supposed to return to Earth. The only question was how long Laika would live in space orbit.
Laika turned out to be a very docile dog. Immediately after the launch of the satellite, telemetry reported that the launch overloads pressed the dog to the container tray, while the dog behaved calmly. Since the project was prepared on the knee, no reliable life support system was created on the satellite. The designers expected that Laika would die with the end of the supply of electricity on the spacecraft - in six days. However, the dog died just a few hours later - from overheating. “The shaggyest, loneliest, most unfortunate dog in the world” So the American correspondent of The New York Times wrote about the “doomed to death” Laika the day after the flight. Similar articles sympathizing with the dog appeared all over the world. In many countries, there were protests by animal rights activists: Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was called a communist barbarian and flayer. Of course, one could talk about the "order" of the imperialists, about the envy of capitalism to socialism, but politics had nothing to do with it. The world, which the first satellite met with hope and joy, now, for the first time in history, was almost on the air in anticipation of the death of a living being. No one wanted such technological progress.
In the meantime, the first warm-blooded cosmonaut was commemorated in the West, in the Soviet press, a few days after the actual death of the dog, they talked about her well-being. On the eighth day, they reported that communication with the satellite was lost, and even later - about the "planned euthanasia" of the animal. And here the Soviet people have already begun to wake up. The fact is that no one warned the public that the dog was doomed and would never return to Earth. The USSR media modestly kept silent about the details of the “return” from the very beginning, so the citizens sincerely waited for the heroic mongrel, thinking out ways to “land” her. "Khrushchev into space!" Another feat of the Soviet cosmonautics turned out to be blurred because of public opinion. Moreover, it was not only the defenders of animals in the West who spoiled it. In the USSR, for many, the feeling of patriotism also failed - "everyone felt sorry for the dog." The news of the death of a pretty mongrel with pain echoed in the hearts of many Soviet citizens. Of course, the children were the most upset. By special order, many schools conducted “explanatory work”: teachers told sentimental schoolchildren about how important space flights are for the USSR, that a dumb creature like a dog is not the most serious victim in the exploration of the Universe, and in general - an unknown mongrel now became famous to the whole world. However, the wave of discontent did not subside for a long time. There was a joke among the people that Khrushchev should fly next into space. It is curious that hundreds of letters came to the Kremlin with a proposal to award Laika posthumously with the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union and confer a military rank. They say that the authorities even discussed these popular initiatives.
People in the USSR did not yet know how to work with public opinion in the "domestic market" - they were used to bringing people's feelings with the help of another "therapy". But there was a “thaw” in the yard, so it was necessary to look for more sincere ways. They decided to “relax” the country with the help of a new variety of Laika cigarettes (later cigarettes), which, apparently, according to the idea of the then “PR people”, were supposed to turn all civil sympathy for the unfortunate dog into smoke. According to the tales of the time, Khrushchev initially planned to make "Laika" a kind of umbrella brand: under the nickname of an animal-cosmonaut, it was planned to launch sweets, ice cream and even processed cheese. But someone with a sober mind in Khrushchev's team warned that there might be too much, so they decided to stop only at cigarettes. True, a somewhat ominous and cynical logical chain came out - "The dog burned down, and cigarettes also burn."
One of the most egregious injustices in history is that this dog still does not have the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Or, at least, the Russian Federation (posthumously).
And this mistake can be corrected in 2017. November marks the 60th anniversary of the flight of the first living creature into space. At the beginning of November 1957, on the Sputnik-2 spacecraft, the first cosmonaut in history, the mongrel Laika, made four orbits around the Earth.
Laika is the first living creature in space, in fact, the first astronaut. Her tragic fate, the subsequent fame and memory of the dog, who proved that living beings are capable of making space flights, all this draws on the title of a real Hero. Moreover, in her face, the muzzle will be awarded to all animals that have paved the way into space for science.
This collection contains 23 facts about Laika. And it is even surprising, at least based on the name of this site, why this has not been done before.
1. When the question arose of who to send into space, scientists chose between dogs and monkeys.
Dogs were chosen because they are more unpretentious and better succumbed to training. There was also a political reason - the Americans used primates, and Soviet scientists did not want repetition. Pictured is the chimpanzee Ham, who flew into space on January 31, 1961 and returned home.
2. Laika is not the first animal to travel into space.
Even before Sputnik-2, there were launches of geophysical rockets with various dogs. There is a memorable date - July 22, 1951. The first flight of a "dog crew" on a vertical-launched geophysical rocket. But these devices, reaching several hundred kilometers, "snapped" containers with animals. And they parachuted down to earth.
With Laika it was different. She had to go into orbit and within a week (the life support system was enough) to make orbits around the planet.
Pictured above, scientists retrieve dogs from a landed geophysical rocket.
3. Casting
For an orbital flight, it was necessary to select a small outbred dog, weighing no more than 7 kilograms. Thoroughbred dogs were excluded due to effeminacy and weakness. Photographers and television people demanded that the dog be white - this is how the animal looked better in the photo and film frames. A dozen animals reached the semi-finals of the casting. Three made it to the final - Mukha, Albina and Laika.
The first shallow due to poor photogenicity (it turned out to have a slight curvature of the paws, clearly visible in the photo). Albina (pictured above with her puppies), although she was the most experienced astronaut (two flights on a geophysical rocket), she was preparing to become a mother and the animal was pitied. After all, even then it was known that the upcoming flight for the astronaut would be fatal. Laika remained, who at that time was about two years old.
4. Before the flight, Laika underwent surgery, during which they installed breathing sensors on the ribs and a pulse sensor near the carotid artery.
Not to mention the death of Laika, the torture of animals ... A special commission from the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers did not believe that Laika died due to a design error, and ordered experiments with similar conditions on Earth, as a result of which 2 more dogs died.
5. Laika had no chance to return alive.
At that time, they had not yet come up with a system that would return vehicles from space to earth unscathed. But everything went even worse - due to an error in the calculations, Laika lived only four turns around the Earth. Due to the tight deadlines (it was imperative to be in time for the 40th anniversary of the revolution), a lot was done at random. In flight, the cabin quickly began to heat up, the temperature reached 40 degrees and the dog died.
6. The authorities are hiding…
According to the Soviet tradition, they were not going to tell the truth, and all 7 planned days were told about Laika's life in space. And then, upon completion of all the planned work, she was allegedly “put to sleep”.
Two months in space Laika is worn.
Whether alive, dead, try to find out.
The breath has not been written by the apparatus for a long time,
But everyone froze in anticipation of awards!
These poems were written by Colonel Vitaly Georgievich Volovich, head of the group of meetings and rescue of astronauts, the same one who later met Gagarin in a parachute jump. Three days later, one of his all-knowing colleagues said: “Poetry is studied in the Central Committee. Vitalik, get ready…”. But he was lucky: they got to ... Shepilov. And since on the eve of Shepilov “joined the anti-party group,” he had no time for poetry, and Volovich got away with everything.
Pictured above: the original image of Laika during training in the Sputnik-2 apparatus.
7. In general, the USSR did not pay much attention to Laika. No propaganda event was made of her flight.
The press in the USSR did not immediately realize the significance of the event. TASS officially announced the launch of Sputnik-2 on the same day, but the article first listed all the research equipment and only at the end it was written that there was a dog on board.
8. In the Western press, it became a sensation. The articles expressed admiration for the dog and at the same time worried.
As already mentioned, the authorities concealed that the dog literally burned alive for several hours. But even the very fact of launching an animal into space without the possibility of returning has upset many people around the world.
Animal welfare organizations have said flying is barbaric. The New York Times published an article calling Laika "the loneliest and most miserable dog in the world."
9. Did the American offers the American instead of like into space?
In the West, they even offered to send Khrushchev himself into space. But the most famous case, widely circulated on the Runet, is the story about the Negro children. Allegedly, one of the Americans offered to send them into space (without the possibility of returning), and not the dog. The source of this information is usually not specified.
In fact, this letter is cited in the propaganda book The Third Side of the Dollar by Albertas Laurinciukas, correspondent in the United States of the Selskaya Zhizn newspaper (M., 1968, p. 27). There is a quote from, supposedly, letters to the UN from one woman from the state of Mississippi: “If for the development of science it is necessary to send living creatures into the space, in our city there are as long as you want.” This, of course, is most likely a lie.
10. In general, in the West, Laika's flight in Sputnik-2 caused an ambiguous and contradictory reaction. He scared a lot of people...
Politicians and the media sometimes went too far, fomenting fear about Soviet space successes, but let's not forget that the destruction of capitalism was officially declared the goal of the USSR in many communist policy documents, and Secretary General Khrushchev promised to show America "Kuzkin's mother." The term "peaceful coexistence of the two systems" appeared only in the 1970s.
11. Some of the employees who participated in the preparation of Laika suffered psychologically the death of a dog.
In the photo: O. Gazenko with dog-nauts Belka and Strelka who returned to Earth.
The Soviet physiologist Oleg Gazenko talked about his psychological state after the launch of Laika.
“In itself, launching and receiving ... information is all very cool. But when you understand that it is impossible to return this Laika, that she is dying there, and that you cannot do anything, and that no one, not only me, no one can return her, because there is no system for returning, this is some very hard feeling. Do you know? When I returned from the cosmodrome to Moscow, and for some time there was still jubilation: speeches on the radio, in newspapers, I left the city. Do you understand? I wanted some privacy."
12. In 2008, a monument to Laika appeared at the Institute of Military Medicine in Moscow.
A two-meter rocket, turning into a palm, is crowned with the figure of a little mongrel, who opened the way to the stars for people. And these uncomplicated lines on a memorial sign next to the monument were dedicated to Laika by a member of the Union of Writers of Russia V. Zapryagaev.
13. The monument to Laika is also installed in Crete (Greece) in the Homo Sapiens Museum (on the right) and in Holland (on the left).
Laika has become an iconic character in pop culture over time. Mainly in the western. But in the USSR, her image was widely exploited.
14. Laika cigarettes were released in the USSR after an unexpectedly strong negative reaction of people to the death of an astronaut dog.
15. You can read about the use of images of dognauts in marketing here ...
16. The 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy presents an alternate version of Laika's fate after her near-Earth flight.
In the collection of life forms of Taneliir Tivan there is a living dog in a spacesuit with the inscription "USSR". In general, in Marvel comics, the prototype of the dog Cosmo, of course, is Laika.
17. English hip-hop musician ICE MC recorded the song "Laika" in the early 90s.
The song is narrated on behalf of Laika, who reproaches people for dooming her to death by sending her into space.
18. The animated film LAIKA is dedicated to the dog.
This is the diploma work of the graduate of the School of National Film and Television Avgousta Zourellidi, who won the Cannes Film Festival.
19. British composer of German origin Max Richter recorded the song "Laika's Journey".
In the composition from the album "Memoryhouse", 2002, the sound of a heartbeat is used - as an image of Laika, flying alone in orbit. At the end of the composition, the heartbeat increases sharply, and then there is an oppressive silence.
20. A touching mini-pseudo-documentary film about Laika - clip Moan.
Danish disc jockey and musician Anders Trentemöller in 2007, together with compatriot Ane Tröhle, released a remix of the song "Moan", which immediately became a hit and hit the top 30 singles in Denmark. The video for this remix shows the story of the dog Laika before launch into space and in orbit.
21. The English ska band "7 Seconds Of Love" recorded the song "Rocket Dog", dedicated to Laika.
The leader of this group is Joel Veitch, a famous animator who also made a flash clip for this song. The image of Stalin is used there, and the author of the cartoon himself admits that he knows that Nikita Khrushchev was the general secretary at that time, but Stalin was more suitable for this film.
22. Gagarin's confession.
Yuri Gagarin once admitted: “Yes, I myself don’t understand who I am: the first man (in space) or the“ last dog ”. And there is a lot of truth in these words. From a technical point of view, the flights of dogs and the first cosmonaut, with all the reservations, were fundamentally not much different. The only difference is that Laika did not even know what they were doing to her, but Yuri Alekseevich knew.
The merits of the dog Laika as an astronaut are recognized in the track dedicated not to a specific astronaut, but to Soviet cosmonautics as a whole - "Star City" ("Star City"), by the Visage group - one of the leaders of the New Romantics movement of the early 1980s. By the way, it was co-authored with the notorious.
As a vocal sample throughout the track, apparently, the text of the solemn line dedicated to the astronauts was used. The girl in a cheerful voice lists the heroes, "whose names will live forever" - it is gratifying that in the long list after Gagarin, Titov, Leonov, Tereshkova and Savitskaya there are the names of Belka, Strelka and Laika.
Before humans went into space themselves, due to prevailing theories about the dangers of space flight and the fear of not surviving prolonged exposure to weightlessness, animals were the first to go into space. For several years, there has been a serious discussion among scientists about the effects of prolonged weightlessness. American and Russian scientists used animals - mostly monkeys, chimpanzees and dogs - to test the ability of living organisms in space and test return alive and unharmed.
In the US, Aerobee projects took place in the early 1950s. Basing their experiments on American biomedical research, Soviet scientists sent a rocket with a team of mice for initial testing. But, later it was necessary to collect data to develop a cabin so that people could be sent into space. In the end, small dogs were chosen for this kind of experiment. As the scientists decided, the test with dogs will provide more accurate results. On the streets near the research center of the space program, the institute of aviation medicine in Moscow, mongrels were selected. Stray dogs were considered more hardy than purebred dogs as they could take care of themselves on city streets. They were selected according to weight and size: no more than 6 kilograms and no more than 35 centimeters.
Between 1951 and 1952, Soviet R-1 rockets launched nine dogs into space, three of which flew twice. Each flight was carried out by a pair of dogs in hermetically sealed containers, returning by parachute. Of these early space tests, only a few dogs were remembered by name.
(In the photo Dezik and Gypsy)
On August 15, 1951 Dezik and Gypsy were launched. These two were the first suborbital astronauts. They were successfully returned back. In early September 1951, Desic was sent back into space, only with another dog named Lisa. This second flight was unsuccessful. The dogs died, but the data logger survived. The scientist who was involved in this project (Korolev) was devastated by the loss of the dogs.
Shortly thereafter, Bold and Baby were launched. Bold ran away the day before the start. The crew was concerned that the wolves that lived nearby might have eaten her. She returned a day later and the test flight was successfully resumed. The launch of the fourth test was a failure, and again ended in the death of the dogs. However, in the same month, the fifth test run of the two dogs was successful. On September 15, 1951, the sixth launch of two dogs took place. One of the dogs, Bobik, then ran away, a replacement was found near the local canteen. Then the dog from the dining room was called "ZIB" - Replacement of the Disappeared Bobik. Still, the flight and return were successful.
There were also other dogs associated with that series of flights, including Kozyavka, Damka, Albina and others. Kozyavka, Linda and Malyshka became the first dogs whose names were declassified and presented to the public in June 1957. They visited the uppermost layers of the atmosphere at an altitude of 110 kilometers above the Earth.
(In the photo Kozyavka, Damka and Albina)
The next step for the Soviet space program was the first orbital flight with a living being: Laika.
(Pictured Laika)
Laika was a small, homeless mongrel picked up from the street. Laika was chosen because during her pre-flight training, she demonstrated exceptional endurance and tolerance. These were remarkable characteristics for a martyr in the name of humanity. In addition, she was a bright dog, light with dark brown spots on her muzzle that created a surprised expression. Her image was well reproduced in black and white photographs and film frames. This was an important factor as the launch was historically significant and carefully recorded. On November 3, 1957, Sputnik 2 exploded in orbit around the Earth with Laika on board. She was hastily trained and placed aboard in a metal carrier. There was no time to work out any strategy to re-enter the atmosphere, Laika flew in space for several hours until Sputnik 2 burned up in the outer atmosphere. 
Why was Laika sent into space without knowing how to save her? The ideology of the space race meant that there was no time left to develop a recovery system before sending Laika into space. Khrushchev told scientists that another satellite should be launched in honor of the rapidly approaching fortieth anniversary of the October Revolution, on November 7, 1957. Sputnik 2 was prepared in a terrible hurry. Laika's flight evoked unprecedented love and compassion both in the USSR and in the rest of the world. People felt genuine sympathy for Laika. She was perceived as an innocent victim caught in the brutal millstone of the Cold War.
(In the photo Lichichka and Chaika)
On July 28, 1960, in the Soviet Union Chaika and Chanterelle were launched on the first artificial Earth satellite. The ship is a prototype of the Vostok manned spacecraft. The booster exploded at launch, killing two dogs. They were the best and favorite dogs in the institute. Junior researcher Lyudmila Radkevich later recalled how bright and wonderful they were, especially Chanterelle. Later, it was believed that sending red dogs into space was a bad omen.
(In the photo Belka and Strelka)
On August 19, 1960, Belka and Strelka were launched on Sputnik 5 along with twelve mice, insects, plants, fungi cultures, various microbes, wheat germ, peas, onions and corn. In addition, there were twenty-eight laboratory mice and two white rats in the cockpit. The flight was successful, Strelka later gave birth to a litter of six puppies.
(In the photo Bee and Fly)
Bee and Fly were launched aboard the Earth 6 satellite on December 1, 1960, along with mice, insects and plants. At the end of the flight, the descent trajectory turned out to be very steep, and the ship burned up along with the animals on entry into the atmosphere.
Tragedies happened not only in space, but also on Earth. So, during training in the isolation chamber, the youngest cosmonaut candidate, Valentin Bondarev, died.
On December 22, 1960, Soviet scientists again tried to explore space by sending the dogs Damka and Krasavka into space, however, the upper stage of the rocket showed a malfunction and the launch was aborted. The rocket exploded at the start, the dogs on board, Damka and Krasavka, died.
(In the photo Chernushka)
On March 9, 1961, another dog named Chernushka was launched into space. The spacecraft of Sputnik Chernushka was accompanied into space by an astronaut dummy, mice and guinea pigs. The flight went well.
(pictured Asterisk)
The flight of another dog named Asterisk on March 25, 1961 was also successfully followed. In this way, the structures and systems of space vehicles were successfully tested.
(Félicette cat in the photo)
On October 18, 1963, French scientists launched the first cat into space. The cat, named Félicette, was successfully brought back by parachute, and the second cat flight on October 24 ran into difficulties and ended in failure.
Scientists used the animal kingdom for testing. Despite the losses, these animals have taught scientists a lot of experience and knowledge, without the contribution and sacrifice of animals, we would not have learned anything. Without animal testing in the early days of space programs, the Soviet and American programs could have suffered a heavy loss of human life. Animals gave their lives for the development of human spaceflight, so let's not forget their contribution to our history!
