Laika

Laika (Russian: Лайка, after the name of the dog breed, literally barker, 1954 - November 3, 1957) was the first of the Soviet dogs sent into space, the first living mammal sent into Earth's orbit and the first orbital victim.

### **Intro:**

At the time Laika's mission was launched, little was known about the effects of spaceflight on living things. Some scientists believed that humans would not be able to survive a launch or the impact of outer space, so experts working on the space program saw animal flights as a necessary preparation for human missions.

## Laika

### Other Name's

* Лайка
* Kudryavka (Кудрявка, "Curly")

## Physical description

### Gender

Female

The United States used chimpanzees; The Soviet program decided to use dogs.

### **Biography :**

Laika was a stray, originally named Kudryavka (Russian: kudryavka, literally, curly), trained with two other dogs, and finally chosen as a passenger on the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 (Sputnik-2) launched into space on November 3, 1957. Sputnik 2 was not designed to return and it was known from the beginning that Laika would die.

Laika died a few hours after launch from stress and heatstroke, possibly due to a malfunction in the thermal control system.

The true cause of her death was not made public for decades after the flight.

Although Laika did not survive the journey, the experiment proved that a living passenger can survive a launch into orbit and endure weightlessness.

It paved the way for human flights into space, and scientists obtained the first data on how living organisms react to the environment during space flights.

On April 11, 2008, Russian officials erected a memorial to Laika. This small monument is located near the military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight into space and features a dog standing on top of the rocket

### **Selection and training**

Kerusha, who would later be called Laika, was a stray found on one of the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists decided to use Moscow stray dogs because of the assumption that such animals had already learned to survive in conditions of extreme cold and starvation. Lajka was a mixed breed, weighing about six kilograms and about three years old. The staff gave her several names and nicknames, including Kudrijavka, Žučka (Yellow Bug) and Limončik (Lemon ).

Laika, the Russian name for several husky-like dog breeds, was a name popularized around the world.

Her true pedigree is unknown, although it is generally accepted that she was part husky or another Nordic breed, and possibly part terrier with her temperament as phlegmatic, as well as the fact that she did not get into conflicts with other dogs.

The Soviet Union and the United States had previously only sent animals on suborbital flights. Three animals were trained for the flight of Sputnik 2:

Albina (Альбина), Mushka (Mushka) and Laika. Russian scientist Oleg Gazenko (Oleg Georgievich Gazenko) chose to train Laika. Albina flew twice at high altitude during the tests, and Mushka was used to test instruments and life support systems.

In order to get the dogs used to the narrow space of the tiny cabin of Sputnik 2, they were kept in smaller and smaller cages for a period of 20 days. The extremely narrow space caused the dogs to stop urinating and defecating, they were agitated, and their overall health condition deteriorated. Laxatives did not help, so the researchers concluded that only long periods of training were effective. The dogs were placed in a centrifuge that simulated the acceleration during a rocket launch, as well as in machines that simulated the noise of a spacecraft. This caused their pulse to double and their blood pressure to rise to 30–65 mmHg. The dogs were trained to eat a special jelly of high nutritional value that was supposed to be their food in space

Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book that chronicles the story of Soviet medicine in space, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote: "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live “

### **Cosmic mission**

Laika was put into the satellite on October 31, 1957, three days before the start of the mission.Temperatures at the launch site were extremely cold for that time of year, so a hose connected to a heater was used to keep her cabin warm. Two assistants have been assigned to keep a constant eye on Laika until launch.

Before liftoff on November 3, 1957, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Laika's fur was wiped with alcohol and carefully brushed. Iodine was applied to the places where sensors were to be placed to monitor her bodily functions.

As the acceleration peaked, Laika's breathing rate increased three to four times its pre-takeoff rate.Sensors showed her heart rate was 103 beats per minute before takeoff, rising to 240 during the onset of acceleration.

After reaching orbit, the tip of Sputnik 2 was successfully jettisoned.

However, the central Block A did not separate as planned, preventing the proper operation of the heat regulation system. Some of the thermal insulators were damaged, causing the temperature in the cabin to rise to 40°C.

After spending three hours in weightlessness, Laika's heart rate dropped to 102 beats per minute,three times the time compared to tests performed on Earth, indicating that she was under great stress.

Early telemetry indicated that Laika, although shaken, was still eating food.

After approximately five to seven hours of flight, no signs of life could be detected from the aircraft.

Sputnik 2, carrying the body of Laika, burned up five months later, after orbiting the Earth 2,570 times, during re-entry on April 14, 1958.