The scientific data gathered from the mission helped path the way for humans to orbit the earth safely. For many years, the Soviets maintained conflicting reports that Laika was either euthanized or died from asphyxia, but in the early 2000s it came out the the brave dog perished during her fourth orbit of earth when Sputnik 2’s temperature control system failed and she overheated. Laika survived the pressures of earth’s escape velocity and Sputnik 2 settled into an orbit of the planet. One of the technicians famously stated, "After placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight." On October 30th, 1957, Laika was put into the satellite, Sputnik 2, which wasn’t launched until three days later. And just like the human cosmonauts, Laika was also placed in centrifuges to simulate the g-force of a rocket launch and switched to a diet of high in nutrient gel. The approximately three year old pup was prepped for the mission by being confined in smaller and smaller cages to prepare her for her voyage in the cramped vessel. Laika was chosen for the mission because Soviet scientists reasoned that a dog living on the streets of Moscow would already be used to conditions of extreme cold and hunger. Though they had succeeding in launching two dogs into space (both of which somehow fucking survived), the true test would be an orbital voyage. The United States succeeding getting a monkey into space as early as 1949, and the Soviets were desperate to one up them by sending a dog. Scientists on both sides of the space race were desperate to be the first to send a man into space In order to test the effects of space on a living organism, both the US and the USSR had been blasting small animals off earth for several years. Decades later, the praises of this pooch are sung loudly in books, songs, and even with Laika tattoos. Laika gave her life while becoming the first living creature to ever orbit the earth. In the year 1957 this task fell squarely on the shoulders of a stray dog from the streets of Moscow named Laika. Before mankind could take to the stars, somebody had to make sure it was relatively safe. Without really trying, it’s alternately enlightening, reaffirming, heartbreaking, and inspiring.īitches in Space: Remembering Soviet Russia's Fleet of Female Dog Cosmonauts.History is fraught with tales of those who gave their lives for the betterment of the human race. Rory Tolan, The Los Angeles Review of Books In her Technicolor tour of space-age propaganda and pop culture, Turkina shows just how deeply Laika dug herself into the Soviet imagination. The book an Aladdin’s cave of eye-batting oddments and kitsch curiosities enchants the reader with some 350 archival photos and images of arcane ephemera. The Stray Dogs That Became Soviet Space Heroes You could even smoke a Laika cigarette as you read a Belka and Strelka storybook to your children. It could be merchandise from a parallel universe in which our world is ruled by canine overlords. Instead of the usual heroic comrades peering from the spaceships' windows, chiselled jaws framed inside the bubble masks of their spacesuits, there are the furry faces of beaming dogs. Produced in the USSR in the 1950s, this collection of memorabilia looks like any other haul of space-race propaganda – until you notice that something's not quite right. The pointed nosecones of satellites sparkle on lapel badges and postage stamps, while further galactic adventures are enacted across the lids of biscuit tins. Petersburg.Ī streamlined space rocket streaks across the starry sky on a packet of Soviet cigarettes, trailing triumphant slogans, while another spaceship soars past planets on a commemorative plate. Text by Olesya Turkina, Senior Research Fellow at the State Russian Museum, St. This book uses these ephemeral items to illustrate the poignant tale of how the unassuming Soviet Space Dogs became legends. Images of the Space Dogs proliferated, reproduced on everyday goods across the Soviet Union: cigarette packets, sweet-tins, badges, stamps and postcards. Subsequent canine space travellers, Belka and Strelka, were the first to return alive, and were immediately featured in children’s books and cartoons. Her death a few hours after launching was used to transform her into a symbol of patriotic sacrifice. On 3 November 1957, Laika was the first Earth-born creature into outer space, giving her instant global fame. All of them formerly homeless on the Moscow streets, they fitted the necessary profile: small, robust, placid and able to withstand the punishing preparations for space flight. This book is dedicated to the dogs who were crucial to the success of the early Soviet space programme.
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