EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Sputnik 2, launched on November 3, 1957, carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be shot into space and orbit Earth. Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow. There were no plans to return her to Earth, and she lived only a few hours in orbit.

Detailed explanation-2: -Laika, a Moscow street dog, became the first creature to orbit Earth, but she died in space.

Detailed explanation-3: -She reached orbit alive, circling the Earth in about 103 minutes. Unfortunately, loss of the heat shield made the temperature in the capsule rise unexpectedly, taking its toll on Laika. She died “soon after launch, ” Russian medical doctor and space dog trainer Oleg Gazenko revealed in 1993.

Detailed explanation-4: -But the story of Laika had a dark lie at its core. In 2002, forty-five years after the fact, Russian scientists revealed that she had died, probably in agony, after only a few hours in orbit.

Detailed explanation-5: -Laika, Russian cosmonaut dog, in 1957. It was a Space Race victory that would have broken Sarah McLachlan’s heart. On this day, Nov. 3, in 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first-ever living animal into orbit: a dog named Laika.