First Dog in Space

She was picked from the streets of Moscow...to become a part of a mission that paved the way for 'one giant leap for mankind'. None could have imagined..not even she, that one day all eyes of the world and the scientific community would be watching her intently and she would be the center of attention. Wandering as a stray dog on the streets of Moscow, Laika was by coincidence, chosen to be a part of the space mission that was destined to change the scientific outlook of man towards space. Laika...yes that is the name of the first dog that was the first animal to be launched into a spacecraft for space exploration in the year 1957. Earlier there were various Soviet space dogs that were used in rocket missions. However, the flights were restricted to certain altitudes and not to the orbital level.

A Space Odyssey or a Regret?
The great canine cosmonaut, Laika was launched for the space mission in the Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. The world had already witnessed the launch of world's first satellite, Sputnik 1 in October 1957. These series of events soon gained worldwide popularity as they were significant steps towards human space missions. Laika, called Kudryavka in Russian, meaning Little Curly-Haired One was the first dog in space. In fact, if we exclude microorganisms, Laika was the first living creature to be sent into orbit. Besides Laika, two other dogs also underwent training for surviving in the tough conditions of a space shuttle, however, finally Laika was selected for the mission. The reason behind choosing dogs was that, scientists believed, dogs could endure inactivity better than other animals. Instead of a male, the female species of dogs were chosen because the female dogs did not have to lift their legs to urinate and so it was in some way suited for the space missions!! Laika first interacted with the world community by barking out a 'hello' into the microphone, just a week before her flight. During the first few days of the space mission, scientists received continuous 'beep beep' signals that assured the tracking of the spacecraft.

Animal lovers were not very positive about the safety of the animals, since the inception of the idea of sending animals into space and so they were always against it. However, few days after the launch of Sputnik 2, when it was announced that Laika has only 10 days of food and oxygen to survive, there was public outrage and the Russian space agency was criticized for being inhumane. Unfortunately, Russian authorities declared the death of Laika, on the fourth day of the mission. Since then there have been debates about animal testing methods and their efficacy. Another controversy regarding the death of Laika came into the limelight, in 2002, when Dimitri Malashenkov of the Institute for Biological problems in Moscow came up with some shocking revelations that Laika didn't die after four days of the mission, in fact she lost her life just a few hours after the flight took off. Dr. Malashenkov's report suggested that the dog died due to overheating and stress, as a result of the fast speed, that lead to the increased pulse rate.

The scientific community still regrets the death of Laika, that is evident in the message of Oleg Gazenko, a scientist of the Soviet animals in space program. He stated, "the more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it. We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog." A fascinating chapter in the history of space exploration, the sending of first dog in space led to the further growth of man's exploration of space.

Laika's small spacecraft (508 Kg) remained in the orbit for 162 days and circled the Earth nearly 2770 times before Laika's coffin burned into ashes in space. Was it fate or poor vision of the scientific community? Was sending Laika into space without ensuring her safety a right step? These are some of the questions that will always haunt scientists. Whatever information Laika's spacecraft sent, though is not sufficient to justify her death, still can be regarded as an important source of information for further explorations. In this way probably we can remember Laika for a long time. Laika's statue has been installed outside Moscow's military research facility where her flight team prepared the original space mission in 1957. It is there, as a mark to salute the precious life of the canine legend!