In the fall of 1957, the space age was only weeks old. The Soviet Union had just stunned the world by launching Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Then, about a month later, it sent up something even more astonishing: a living passenger.
That passenger was Laika, a small stray dog from the streets of Moscow. On November 3, 1957, she rode into orbit aboard Sputnik 2, becoming the first animal to circle the Earth. Sadly, there was no way to bring her home. The technology for returning safely through the atmosphere didn't exist yet, and her survival was never expected.
Why a Stray?
Soviet scientists chose dogs from the streets of Moscow because they assumed strays had already learned to endure extreme cold and hunger. Laika was a mixed-breed female, about three years old, weighing roughly 11 to 13 pounds. She was probably part husky or another northern breed, and possibly part terrier.
She went by several names. Workers called her Kudryavka, meaning Little Curly, and Limonchik, Little Lemon. The name the world remembers, Laika, roughly means Barker in Russian. The American press nicknamed her Muttnik, a play on Sputnik.
Three dogs were trained for the mission. Ten days before launch, scientist Vladimir Yazdovsky chose Laika as the main flight dog. Before the launch, he took her home to play with his children. He later wrote that he wanted to do something nice for her, because she had so little time left to live.
A Rushed Mission
Sputnik 2 was built in a hurry. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted a spectacular launch to mark the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. The engineers had less than four weeks to design and build the spacecraft, working largely from rough sketches.
The capsule had an oxygen generator, a cooling fan, and enough gelatin-like food for seven days. Laika wore a harness, and sensors tracked her heart, breathing, blood pressure, and movement. Her heart rate jumped from 103 beats per minute before launch to 240 during takeoff.
The Truth Came Out Decades Later
Once in orbit, part of the rocket failed to separate as planned, and the spacecraft's temperature control system couldn't work properly. The cabin heated up to about 104°F. Telemetry showed Laika was agitated but eating. Within roughly five to seven hours, the signs of life stopped. She died from overheating on the craft's fourth orbit.
For decades, the public didn't know this. It was widely reported that she died when her oxygen ran out after several days, or that she had been put to sleep beforehand. The true cause and timing weren't made public until 2002.
In 1998, one of the scientists behind the mission, Oleg Gazenko, expressed his regret. "The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it," he said. "We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."
Remembering Laika
Laika's flight gave scientists some of the first data on how living creatures handle launch and weightlessness, helping pave the way for human spaceflight. In 1960, two dogs named Belka and Strelka became the first animals to return safely from orbit.
In 2008, a small monument showing Laika standing atop a rocket was unveiled in Moscow, near the facility that prepared her flight. More than six decades later, people around the world still remember the little stray who went first, and the price she paid.
