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Laika- A Dog To Remember

The 1950’s it seems were not a very good decade for animals. Humans began to flourish after WWII and with ever- increasing technology but this did not bode well for the animal kingdom. Literally thousands of species started to decline in the 1950s. Animals too numerous to mention such as the Caspian Tiger, Peregrine Falcon and our own beautiful Otters began to disappear. As many of you will be aware many species have since become extinct. The main reason for these declines has been destruction of habitat as we have spread ourselves far and wide across the planet.

This fact is truly very sad but there is a story from the 1950s that, for many animal- lovers like me, will bring immediate tears to the eyes. It is the story of Laika, the first dog in space.

The Americans and Soviets started sending animals into space in the ‘40s and by the 50s several mice had been sacrificed (only the first one survived) and a few monkeys and dogs had almost made it into space. This meant that they had not quite reached a height of 50miles where true space begins but they had gone as far as 45 miles which was close enough. Many of them had also survived.

However man needed to know what happens in true orbit. Laika, whose name means Barker in Russian, was a 3 year- old rescue dog found on the streets of Moscow. She was selected by the Soviets and trained to sit a small, padded unit containing a life support system.

On November 3rd 1957 Sputnik 2 with little Laika aboard was launched and reached a height of 2,000 miles. The numerous monitors showed that she suffered no ill effects during her time in orbit. This was surely a great moment in space history and a huge advance. The tragic part is that, as they say in astronaut- talk, the capsule was ‘not designed for recovery’. They had never meant her to come safely back to earth at all.

As the world watched over the next few days the batteries in her life support unit ran out and her air supply slowly depleted until she died a few days after the launch. She never knew and could never have comprehended that she had captured the hearts of the world and become an icon for a new age.

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