Laika

Laika, a mixed-breed mongrel, was the first living creature to have orbited the Earth and the first living creature ever to have died in space. She was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow at an estimated three years of age and recruited by the Soviet space program to serve as the subject of an experimental flight into space for the purpose of studying the effects of space travel on living creatures. She was launched into space in the 1100-pound craft named Sputnik-2 on November 3, 1957. Her vital signs were monitored with electrodes placed on her body and Soviet space officials at the time stated that Laika survived four days in space and was then euthanized with a poison contained in a special gel to be used as food. However, nearly 45 years later, in October 2002, during a meeting of the World Space Congress in Houston, Dr. Dimitri Malashenkov of the Institute for Biological Problems in Moscow admitted that only five to seven hours post-launch of Sputnik-2, no signs of life were being transmitted from Laika and that by the fourth orbit, it became clear from her extremely rapid heartbeat that she had died from the effects of stress, likely brought on by a combination of fear and the prolonged 104-degree temperature that occurred when Sputnik-2 failed to separate from its booster rocket, causing the thermal control system to fail. Sputnik-2 continued to orbit for 163 days and 2,370 orbits, until April 14, 1958, when it burned up during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. There was no recovery procedure for orbital flights at the time, so it became obvious that Laika was the only living creature expected to die in space. This discovery outraged animal rights activists around the world. In November 1997, a memorial plaque honoring the Russian cosmonauts was unveiled at the Institute for Aviation and Space Medicine at Star City outside Moscow, with Laika shown in the corner of the plaque. In 1998, a former scientist who had worked with Laika and other animals stated, "The more time passes, the more I'm sorry. We shouldn't have done it. We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog."