Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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The Incredibly Sad Story Of The Female Dog "Laika"
On November 3, 1957, "Sputnik 2", the second artificial satellite known to history, starts in Baikonur (today Kazakhstan).
For the first time a living being from the earth is in space, the female dog "Laika" (= Russian: "yapper") ...:
The mixed breed dog (Terrier-Huskey) had previously been picked up as a stray in Moscow ...
... and then trained her for months ...:
For "Sputnik 2" three female dogs were originally prepared, all of which had been strays before: "Albina", "Muschka" and "Laika" ...:
"Albina" (so called because of her white fur) completed two suborbital flights with a test rocket and should be able to replace "Laika" if necessary.
The instruments and life support systems were tested with “Muschka”.
"Laika" was trained by the Russian space expert Oleg Gasenko. The next picture shows Gasenko with the other two dogs, "Kuschka" and "Albina" (right) ...:
Laika remained comparatively calm during the previous tests, even under long-lasting and intense loads, which made her ideal for space flight.
In order to get the bitch used to the small cubicle of Sputnik 2, she was kept in smaller and smaller cages, each for 15 to 20 days - at the end tied in a container, the capsule in which she was mounted on a rocket and launched into space should be exactly the same ...:
In the confinement they stopped excreting feces; it made them restless and their condition worsened. Even laxatives couldn't noticeably improve her condition; only long training sessions were able to do this.
On November 3rd, “Laika” is in a specially built and sealed chamber in “Sputnik 2”, which is cooled down to 15 degrees by a ventilator.
She receives food and water in the form of jelly through tubes.
Breathing rate, blood pressure, EKG and actogram (movement measurement) from "Laika" are transmitted to earth ...
... there are no cameras in the capsule - you will only do that with the male dog "Tschernuschka" (Russian for "Blackie"), who will be shot into space with "Sputnik 5" on March 9, 1961 ...:
A living return of "Laika" to earth is not planned, since "Sputnik 2" does not have any shielding elements against those when re-entering the earth's atmosphere! So food and water are only on board for six days.
However, the bitch dies of circulatory collapse as a result of overheating after just six to seven hours of flight time.
You know that for sure, as you have previously implanted various measuring sensors in the poor animal.
As much as the Soviets like to waste life on their various actions, they are so generous with monuments afterwards!
Of course there is also a monument to “Laika” - it stands in front of the Military Research Institute for Medicine at Moscow ...:
On January 1st, 1961, the USA will be the first "American" to shoot the chimpanzee "Ham" into space ...:
"Ham the Astrochimp" is not simply "used up" like the Soviet dogs, but brought back to earth, survived the flight and ended its life on January 18, 1983 due to old age in a North Carolina zoo.
On November 3, 1957, "Sputnik 2", the second artificial satellite known to history, starts in Baikonur (today Kazakhstan).
For the first time a living being from the earth is in space, the female dog "Laika" (= Russian: "yapper") ...:
The mixed breed dog (Terrier-Huskey) had previously been picked up as a stray in Moscow ...
... and then trained her for months ...:
For "Sputnik 2" three female dogs were originally prepared, all of which had been strays before: "Albina", "Muschka" and "Laika" ...:
"Albina" (so called because of her white fur) completed two suborbital flights with a test rocket and should be able to replace "Laika" if necessary.
The instruments and life support systems were tested with “Muschka”.
"Laika" was trained by the Russian space expert Oleg Gasenko. The next picture shows Gasenko with the other two dogs, "Kuschka" and "Albina" (right) ...:
Laika remained comparatively calm during the previous tests, even under long-lasting and intense loads, which made her ideal for space flight.
In order to get the bitch used to the small cubicle of Sputnik 2, she was kept in smaller and smaller cages, each for 15 to 20 days - at the end tied in a container, the capsule in which she was mounted on a rocket and launched into space should be exactly the same ...:
In the confinement they stopped excreting feces; it made them restless and their condition worsened. Even laxatives couldn't noticeably improve her condition; only long training sessions were able to do this.
On November 3rd, “Laika” is in a specially built and sealed chamber in “Sputnik 2”, which is cooled down to 15 degrees by a ventilator.
She receives food and water in the form of jelly through tubes.
Breathing rate, blood pressure, EKG and actogram (movement measurement) from "Laika" are transmitted to earth ...
... there are no cameras in the capsule - you will only do that with the male dog "Tschernuschka" (Russian for "Blackie"), who will be shot into space with "Sputnik 5" on March 9, 1961 ...:
A living return of "Laika" to earth is not planned, since "Sputnik 2" does not have any shielding elements against those when re-entering the earth's atmosphere! So food and water are only on board for six days.
However, the bitch dies of circulatory collapse as a result of overheating after just six to seven hours of flight time.
You know that for sure, as you have previously implanted various measuring sensors in the poor animal.
As much as the Soviets like to waste life on their various actions, they are so generous with monuments afterwards!
Of course there is also a monument to “Laika” - it stands in front of the Military Research Institute for Medicine at Moscow ...:
On January 1st, 1961, the USA will be the first "American" to shoot the chimpanzee "Ham" into space ...:
"Ham the Astrochimp" is not simply "used up" like the Soviet dogs, but brought back to earth, survived the flight and ended its life on January 18, 1983 due to old age in a North Carolina zoo.
