This cute little husky-mix, Laika was aboard the Russian satellite Sputnik 2. I have heard of Sputnik of course; the satellite that started the Space Race. Yet, I never knew that there was a dog on board. Laika, a name that resembles the word for "husky" in Russian, was found as a stray and chosen to go into space because researchers figured that she knew how to adapt to harsh conditions. She was trained for the mission by being kept in small spaces and eating a special gel containing nutrients that she would be forced to eat while in the satellite.
Americans called her "Muttnik" as a play on words. Laika's journey was unsuccessful as the power to her life support system gave out before a return mission could be enacted.
Laika was not the first animal in space, fruit flies and two Rhesus monkeys Albert I and Albert II were sent into space before her. The first animals to make it to space and return alive were two dogs from the Soviet Union, Belka and Strelka, on Aug. 19, 1960.
http://io9.com/the-first-animals-in-space-1399364861
That's sad that poor Muttnik didn't make it. That's something animal activists today wouldn't have allowed to happen.
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