The real story behind the first trip to space: The sad fate of the bitch Laika astronaut. In a few months, specifically on November 3, it will be its 66th anniversary. Launch of the USSR’s second satellite, Sputnik II, into space. However, this historic achievement personThere was one dog who actively participated in the space race, though certainly not willingly: secular bitch. in 1957 fully space race Communist leaders between the Soviet Union and the United States, resistance of a creature living in space before sending a man.
chosen Laika, a the dog whose name probably became one of them dog names further populartrained Moscow To adapt to the dimensions of the tiny capsule in which he will travel off-world. related ethical question suffering to which bitch It continues to be a recurring debate that revives every year. its anniversary death.
Laika resisted among 5 and 7 hours live and died in prison heat And panic. But this was not fully known until 2002.. The USSR sweetened the news of his death and highlighted the progress he represented, so that years later, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin would become the first man to be sent into space.
Where did they get the Laika dog?
a secular one street slut He was found wandering the streets of Moscow. This Soviet scientists they chose to use stray dogs since the adoption of Moscow animals They had already learned to endure extreme cold and starvation conditions. It was decided dogs Because of their great adaptability and ease, they were the best choice for demonstrating a mammal’s resilience to extreme conditions. education.
The team worked extensively with a large number of candidates and put them through a selection process that included: experiments someone’s cruelty absolutely inhumane, like locking animals in pods too small for all days, radically changing the thermal and atmospheric conditions inside and subjecting them to real conditions. sensory torture. Back then, it was all worth it to find the best fit “candidate”.
Dog Laika: the first creature to live in space
Finally, Laika (which means Barking in Russian), a dog race mixed between husky and Spitz At about three years old, he was the chosen candidate. Probably out of guilt. Vladimir Yezdovskyscientist and physician Soviet space programhe took her home the day before the launch and tried to provide her with peace and love for the last few hours before euthanizing her, as it was planned from the beginning as a one-way trip.
The mission was successful, but the price to be paid was Laika’s life. HE sputnik 2 It was the second spaceship placed in earth orbitAt 02:30 UTC on November 3, 1957. It was a conical capsule 4 meters high. 2 meters diameter base. It contained radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programmable unit, a refresh and cabin temperature control system, and several compartments intended to house scientific instruments.
He traveled in a sealed cabin, separate from the others. dogthe real name “Kudryavka” and weighed about 6 kilograms. Sputnik 2’s pressurized cabin allowed it to lie down or stand up and was padded. a regenerative system the air provided him with oxygen; food and water was in the form of jelly.
The death of Laika: the suffering of the dog and the Soviet lie
Laika was strapped into a seat belt, collected a bag of debris, and electrodes monitored vital signs. An early first telemetry report showed Laika agitating in space but eating. There was no possibility of returning to Earth, so planned to be sacrificed after 10 days in orbit. Originally from the Soviet Union the dog was reported to have died on the sixth daywith remotely triggered euthanasia to prevent him from suffering from a lack of oxygen.
But years later it turned out that all this information was Soviet propaganda. It was revealed by Russian sources in October 2002 that Laika He died a few hours later after suffering from hyperventilation and tachycardia., due to overheating and exposure to stress. The mission provided the scientists with the first data. behavior is a organism living in space.
Laika the dog: a historic achievement marked by human cruelty
Laika’s death caused a stir emergency response by some associations animal defense, but these protests had little effect and were silenced by the Soviet and American media. With the passage of time and developments in the defense of animal rights, it was possible to put the debates on animal rights on the table. animal abuse in research environments, where many scientific publications wonder where to draw ethical borderline between experiment with animals.
Also years later Some members of the Sputnik project regretted and regretted what it meant to sacrifice Laika.. “As time goes on, I regret more and more what happened. We shouldn’t have done that…we didn’t even learn enough from this mission to justify losing the animal.“His trainer Oleg Gazenko said years later at a conference in Moscow in 1990. Today it is still considered one of the most famous animals in history and has several statues and monuments commemorating its sacrifice.
other animals in space
Despite ethical concerns, animal research in space testing has continued for decades to ensure human safety. The Soviet Union chose to send dogs and later rabbits, while the United States used monkeys for its experiments.. Although most of the monkeys sent into space died, some were returned to Earth alive.
in 1951, Desik and Gypsy dogsSoviet Union and chimpanzee yorik, became the first creature to return to our planet after traveling to space from the United States. Unfortunately, Desik died soon after. In 1966, the Soviet Union launched the Kosmos-110 satellite with two surviving dogs, Vaterk and Ugolkom. to your accommodation 23 days in orbiteven though they returned tired. With the launch of humans into space, the practice of sending animals into space began to decline, but Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961, said he was “the first man and the last dog in space”.