Laika
Sign in to saveLaika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into low orbit on 3 November 1957. As the technology to re-enter the atmosphere had not yet been developed, Laika's survival was never expected. She died of hyperthermia hours into the flight, on the craft's fourth orbit.
AI overview
Laika was a Soviet stray dog who became the first animal to orbit Earth when she launched aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. Though her mission was one-way and she died within hours from overheating, her flight provided crucial data that helped make human spaceflight safer.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Animal.birth_name
- Laika ()
- Animal.image
- Laika (Soviet dog).jpg
- Animal.landscape
- yes
- Animal.caption
- Laika in a flight harness
- Animal.othername
- Kudryavka (, "Curly")
- Animal.species
- Canis familiaris
- Animal.breed
- Mongrel, possibly part-husky (or part-Samoyed) and part-terrier
- Animal.gender
- Female
- Animal.birth_place
- Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
- Animal.death_place
- Sputnik 2, in low Earth orbit
- Animal.death_cause
- hyperthermia
- Animal.known
- First animal to orbit the Earth
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Sputnik 2
- Training
- Preflight preparations
- Voyage
- Ethics of animal testing
- Tributes
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into low orbit on 3 November 1957. As the technology to re-enter the atmosphere had not yet been developed, Laika's survival was never expected. She died of hyperthermia hours into the flight, on the craft's fourth orbit.
Little was known about the effects of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and animal flights were viewed by engineers as a necessary precursor to human missions. The experiment, which monitored Laika's vital signs, aimed to prove that a living organism could survive being launched into orbit and continue to function under conditions of weakened gravity and increased radiation, providing scientists with some of the first data on the biological effects of spaceflight.