Woof woof! Have you ever heard the story of Laika, the Soviet Space Dog? In 1957, Laika (shown above) became the first living creature to orbit the Earth, when Soviet scientists launched the 13 lb. canine into orbit aboard a hastily built Sputnik 2 space capsule. A former stray found on the streets of Moscow, Laika perished when the thermal control systems failed and the capsule overheated, killing the dog in orbit.
Laika sailed into the final frontier wearing a spacesuit like this one on display at the Moscow Space Museum:
Fortunately, Laika's legend has lived on. There is, of course, a semi-famous surf rock band from Finland called Laika and the Cosmonauts, whom we love dearly. Laika also makes a cameo on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space, which was erected in 1964. But now Russia has decided to give Laika a permanent statue of her very own, near Moscow's Military Medicine Institute:
LINKS:
Russia fetes dog Laika, first earthling in space (Reuters, April 11, 2008)
Laika (Wikipedia page)
Laika (Flickr photoset of Laika photos and memorabilia, by dezown)
PREVIOUSLY:
Happy 50th Birthday Sputnik: We Wouldn't Be Us Without You
Happy 45th Anniversary, Telstar 1!
A Brief History of All Telstars
(IMAGE: Doggie spacesuit photo by James Duncan. Laika monument, AP Photo by Alexei Nikolsky)
There's also this touching music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAQWpTIjusY
Posted by: onjbgkqxtt | 11 April 2008 at 01:40 PM
overdue :)
Posted by: Marina V | 11 April 2008 at 03:29 PM
Residents are experiencing problems rezzing objects and making purchases. Please refrain from doing either until ops can lock this issue down
Posted by: DUMBASS LINDEN | 12 April 2008 at 02:23 AM
Sir:
I just want to let you know that you made an error. Laika was not on board the Soyuz 2.
She was on board Sputnik 2. Her ship was attached the modified R-7 rocket.
I apologise for any embarrassment and thank you for your time and information about Laika.
Posted by: Sotirios Moshonas | 13 April 2008 at 04:15 AM
AND, Telstar, there's Nick Abadzis's graphic novel "Laika," from excellent publisher First Second. A book which I own but have not yet read. Looks good, though.
Posted by: Brian Floca | 13 April 2008 at 11:41 AM
I second linden's comment. How...um...HOW..could you have both linked to the Soyuz 2 wikipedia page (clearly showing a Nov 2004 test flight) and then decided that the first earth creature in orbit was lofted skyward by one?
But, it was sputnik 2 on an R7.
Posted by: Adam Hyland | 13 April 2008 at 03:29 PM
Sotrios and Adam, 10,000 apologies. The text above has been changed to say Sputnik 2. Thanks for the correction!
Posted by: Telstar Logistics | 14 April 2008 at 08:33 AM
The main character of Darwin's Outcasts is named after her. And she's been upgraded from a dog to a wolf. :)
http://www.darwinsoutcasts.blogspot.com
http://www3.telus.net/public/isengrim
Posted by: Darwinian Outcast | 23 April 2008 at 03:38 PM
The main character of Darwin's Outcasts is named after her. And she's been upgraded from a dog to a wolf. :)
http://www.darwinsoutcasts.blogspot.com
http://www3.telus.net/public/isengrim
Posted by: Darwinian Outcast | 23 April 2008 at 03:39 PM
I was reading about Laika a few months ago in the book Space Race. I'm gonna have to go see her statue.
Posted by: Russian Women Rule | 22 September 2008 at 06:53 AM
Oh yeah, shes much better than the chimp the US used who was famed for masturbating constantly!
Posted by: Russian Women Rule | 22 September 2008 at 06:54 AM