Sputnik 2

Sputnik 2 was a Soviet Union spacecraft. It was the second spacecraft in the Sputnik programme. It was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a dog called Laika. It was launched on 3 November 1957 at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Scientists think that Laika died several hours after launch from overheating. The spacecraft went into orbit around Earth for roughly five months. It went down into Earth's atmosphere on 14 April 1958 and burned up.

Sputnik 2 was 4 metres (13 feet) high and its base diameter was 2 metres (6.6 feet). It was a cone-shaped and it had several different places for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit, a regeneration and temperature control system for the spacecraft, and scientific instruments. Laika was put in a special area.

 Related pages 
Sputnik programme
Sputnik 1

 References 

Category:Soviet satellites
Category:1950s in the Soviet Union
Category:1950s in spaceflight