Although we are not aware of it, on many occasions the advances made by human beings would not be possible without the participation of animals, unfortunately, many times this participation is fruitful only for us. Surely the fact that a dog traveled to space resonates with you, but where did it come from, how did you prepare for this experience, what was the outcome?
In this article on our site we want to give this brave dog a name and tell you all about him, the biography of Laika, the astronaut dog.
Laika, a half-caste taken in for an experiment
The United States and the Soviet Union were in the middle of the space race, but at some point along the way they had to reflect on which would be the consequences for a human being if he left this planet.
This uncertainty posed many risks, enough not to be assumed by any human being in the first instance, therefore, for the evaluation and knowledge of them it was decided to experiment on animals.
There were several stray dogs that were collected from the streets of Moscow for this purpose, in a certain way, or at least those were the claims that transcended, it was considered that these dogs would be more prepared for a special trip for they had had to endure extreme weather conditions and famine. Among them was Laika, a medium-sized mongrel dog with a very nice, quiet and calm character.
The training of the astronaut dogs
These dogs destined to evaluate the effects of space travel had to undergo hard and cruel training that could be summed up in three points:
- They were placed in centrifuges that simulated the acceleration of a rocket.
- They were placed in machines that imitated the noise of the spaceship.
- Progressively they were locked in smaller and smaller cages to get used to the size they would have in the space capsule.
Obviously the he alth of these dogs (specifically, 36 dogs were removed from the streets) was declining with this training, the simulation of acceleration and noise caused real increases in blood pressure, in addition, as they were kept in smaller cages, they stopped urinating and defecating, which led to the administration of laxatives.
The story they told and the one that really happened
Because of her calm character and small size, Laika was finally chosen and on November 3, 1957 she made a space trip aboard Sputnik 2. The story they explained minimized the risks, Laika was safe inside her space capsule, which also had automatic water and food dispensers to ensure her life throughout the duration of the trip, but this was not the case.
It was said that Laika passed away painlessly as the ship's oxygen ran out, but this was not the case either. So what actually happened? Now we know it from the hands of the people who participated in that project and who finally showed the world the sad truth in 2002.
Unfortunately, Laika died a few hoursafter starting her trip, seized by a panic attack and affected by overheating of the ship. Sputnik 2 continued to orbit in space with Laika's remains for another 5 months, and when she returned to earth in April 1958, she burned up on contact with the atmosphere.0
Laika's happy days
The person in charge of the training program for the astronaut dogs, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky, knew perfectly well that Laika was not going to survive, but somehow he could not remain unmoved by the precious character of this little dog.
Days before Laika's space trip, he decided to welcome her into his home so that she could enjoy what would be her last days of life, During these brief days, Laika was able to feel accompanied by a human family and play with the children who lived in the home.
Without a doubt, this was the only destination that Laika deserved, and she will remain in our memory for being the first living being to travel to space.
