Laika was the first dog to fly into space. The first rocket flights involving dogs
The launch of the Sputnik-2 spacecraft into Earth's orbit was a breakthrough for humanity in space exploration. This experiment proved that living beings can survive in zero gravity. It wouldn't have happened without the little mongrel. It was Laika, the astronaut dog, the hero who once again approved the scientific power Soviet Union. IN world history November 3, 1957 entered at the same time as a significant event for science and a tragic event for a tiny creature.
How dog Laika became an astronaut
The honorary role of the first living astronaut was assigned to a mongrel from a shelter named Laika. She was chosen just 12 days before the flight. Before approving her for this “position”, other mammals were considered as possible applicants: rats, mice and even monkeys. But in the end we settled on dogs.
This choice was not made by chance. First, the success of the experiment required it. The four-legged pets were perfectly trainable, behaved calmly and would not rip off the sensors and the necessary equipment, as primates could do. And, secondly, the image of a hero dog fit perfectly into the subsequent propaganda and PR program of the Soviet Union. It was believed that she would be perfect for promoting a heroic breakthrough in the media.
The weight of the animal was not to exceed 7 kg due to technical requirements. And specialists in photography and film equipment recommended choosing a white dog so that it looks spectacular in the pictures.
First, 10 future astronaut dogs were selected. And only "nobles" and bitches. Males were not suitable due to the difficulty in making sewage clothing. And thoroughbred animals were immediately dismissed as pets with poor health, weak mentality, hardy and whimsical in food.
Dogs began to be trained for space "procedures" at the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine of the Air Force. Under the guidance of Vladimir Yazdovsky, they were trained in a centrifuge and a pressure chamber, accustomed to an automatic feeder and a long stay in a small cabin.
Three reached the final: Mukha, Albina and Laika. The first was rejected due to the congenital curvature of the paws and left for technical ground tests. Albina was pitied - she was expecting puppies. Therefore, it was decided to send the dog Laika into orbit. At the time of the experiment, she was less than 2 years old.
Preparing astronaut dogs for flight
It all started long before the birth of the dog Laika, in 1948. Then the designer Sergei Korolev initiated work to determine the reaction of a living being to the conditions of rocket flight.
The first experiments were carried out at the Kapustin Yar test site. Rockets of the so-called "academic" or "geophysical" type were used. They were launched vertically to a certain height, their warheads with the animals in them separated and landed by parachute. A total of 6 launches were made, most of them unsuccessful. Four astronaut dogs died during the flight.
In addition to dogs, other mammals (mice, guinea pigs, rats), flies, plants (mushrooms, wheat germ, corn, onion, peas) and even bacteria took part in the flights.
But none of the rockets left orbit. The maximum altitude to which they were launched is 450 km. Therefore, the effect of weightlessness on living beings was still not known.
The first spacecraft, Sputnik 1, was successfully launched on October 4, 1957. The authorities wanted to consolidate the triumph. Especially since the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution was approaching.
Therefore, all work was carried out in a hurry. There were not even layouts and drawings, "Sputnik-2" was going almost "on the knee". The training of astronaut dogs was carried out just as hastily. Nobody thought about their return. The main question was just one: how long the animal could live on the ship.
The pressurized cabin of Sputnik-2 was made in the form of a cylinder with a curved bottom. Especially for the dog Laika, it was equipped with a life support system: an automatic feeder that supplied a jelly-like nutrient mixture, sensors for taking physiological indicators and an air conditioning system designed for 7 days of operation.
Shortly before the launch of the satellite, Laika, the first astronaut dog, underwent an operation. Breath sensors were installed on the ribs, and a pulse sensor near the carotid artery.
We also made a special jumpsuit with motion sensors. It was equipped with a container for collecting feces and was attached to the container with cables. Dog Laika could sit, lie down and even move back and forth a little.
In space
Laika's flight was scheduled for half past five in the morning on November 3, 1957. Preparations for landing on the satellite began a few days in advance - on October 31. The skin of the astronaut dog was treated with diluted alcohol, and the exit points of the wires from the sensors were treated with iodine.
The day before, the dog Laika was put in a cell. In the first hour of the night it was installed on a satellite. True, shortly before the launch, the chamber was depressurized at the request of the medical staff: it seemed to the veterinarians that the animal was thirsty.
Perhaps the last requirement was dictated not by the thirst of the astronaut dog, but by human feelings. All the specialists who participated in the experiment understood that the animal would not return and tried to somehow decorate the last moments of his life. For example, Vladimir Yazdovsky, shortly before the flight, took the dog Laika to his home so that she could play with the children. So he wanted to do something nice for the pet.
The launch started successfully. Telemetric data indicated a triple overload, but there were no pathological abnormalities in the heartbeat of Laika, the first astronaut dog. After her pulse returned to normal, it was clear that she even moved a little. But after a few hours everything changed.
Death of the dog Laika
It was originally planned that Laika, the first astronaut dog launched into Earth orbit, would live for about a week. But due to errors in the calculation of the area of the spacecraft and the lack of temperature control necessary for the life support system, it died of overheating 5–7 hours after launch.
On Sputnik-2, the dog Laika made 4 orbits around the Earth. The ship itself circled the planet 2370 times, after which it burned up in the atmosphere in mid-April 1958.
It is noteworthy that the expert commission did not believe in the possibility of a mistake and forced to repeat the experiment 2 more times, but already in conditions on Earth. Both times it ended fatally: the astronaut dogs in the chambers died.
Public response
Laika's flight was received with great resonance by the Western, and not the Soviet press. While foreign media focused on the fate of the astronaut dog, TASS only dryly reported on the technical side of the experiment, only at the end taking a couple of lines about the animal on board.
Moreover, the public decided not to report that the dog Laika would not return. Another 7 days after her death, periodicals reported on the well-being of the pet. And on the 8th day, they reported that Laika was allegedly euthanized, as planned.
Even this sweetened lie shook the society. Indignant letters about animal cruelty poured into the Kremlin. They even suggested launching the then First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev into space instead of the dog Laika.
The death of Laika produced an even greater public outcry in the West. The New York Times published an article with the phrase: “The shaggyest, loneliest, most unfortunate dog in the world.” Subsequently, she became winged.
Khrushchev was dubbed "the soulless Soviet flayer" by foreign animal welfare organizations. Protests erupted to stop animal experiments.
When the first indignation subsided, the anger of the citizens of the USSR was replaced by the demands of justice. The Kremlin was flooded with letters again. But already with requests to assign the posthumous title of Hero of the Soviet Union and a military rank to the dog Laika.
Instead, the government decided to make a brand out of the Laika dog. Launched the production of cigarettes of the same name. They wanted to produce ice cream, processed cheese and sweets under the same brand. But on reflection, we realized that this would be too much.
At the same time educational hours were held in schools. At them, children were told that the death of one dog, Laika, was nothing compared to a scientific breakthrough. And space exploration is one of the main state tasks. They also emphasized that thanks to his feat, an unknown mongrel became a national hero.
The role of the dog Laika for science and its imprint on culture
Despite the tragic history, the death of the first astronaut dog was not in vain. Laika's flight proved that living beings can survive in zero gravity. Also, the experiment made it possible to refine the spacecraft. The next launch ended in triumph: the dogs Belka and Strelka returned to Earth alive.
The heroic mongrel was not forgotten. On the territory of the Institute of Military Medicine, where the experiment was conducted, a two-meter monument was erected in 2008. The sculpture depicts a space rocket passing into the palm on which the dog Laika stands.
Another monument is installed in the Greek Museum of Homo Sapiens. It is located next to monuments dedicated to other cosmonauts: Yuri Gagarin, the crews of Apollo, Soyuz, Shuttle and Neil Armstrong.
The feat of the first astronaut dog was reflected in culture. Laika is mentioned in films, animated series and anime, songs and entire albums were dedicated to her. Bands were even named after her.
In this article, I will talk about the first astronaut dog, the Laika. I will describe how her training and subsequent flight went. I will find out what significance and consequences this experiment had for science.
Choosing an animal to fly into space
The animal that will go into space was chosen 12 days before departure. Dogs were not immediately considered as possible candidates. There were options to use mice, monkeys, rats for these purposes. Subsequently, scientists still settled on a dog, because it was more amenable to training and could not interfere with the operation of the sensors, unlike monkeys. It was also believed that the image of a hero dog on the pages of newspapers would look better.
Scientists decided to send dogs into space because they are more calm and obedient3 candidates were proposed:
- Fly.
- Albina.
- Laika (original name - Kudryavka).
Only bitches of noble origin were considered - mongrels. They were more unpretentious than thoroughbreds, they endured heat and cold better, and were less likely to get sick.
And males were not used for the reason that clothes for dogs are more difficult to make.
The allowable weight of the animal was 7 kilograms, so that technical systems could work properly.
TV people advised to choose a light color, as it would have looked more advantageous in the pictures.
Preparing the first husky for space flight
Fly, Albina and Laika began preparing for the launch into space at a special Air Force AICM Institute. They were tested in a centrifuge and in a pressure chamber, accustomed to an automatic feeder, to long-term stay in a confined space.
The work was supervised by Vladimir Ivanovich Yazdovsky.
Then there was a choice. He fell in the direction of Laika, since Albina was pregnant, and Mukha suffered from curvature of her paws. Laika was very young: she was only 2 years old.
Subsequently, Laika underwent an operation to implant respiratory sensors and a pulse sensor.
She wore special clothes for some time before the flight in order to get used to the constraint of movement and uncomfortable overalls. The overalls made it possible to sit and lie down, to move a little. Special devices were also attached to the clothes, which recorded the activity of movements.
Four-legged understudies: animals that flew into space On October 31, 1957, before landing on the satellite, the dog's skin was treated with alcohol and iodine at the point where the wires from the sensors were attached.
Dog space flight
After overloading during lifting, the animal's pulse soon recovered to normal, movements became moderate and smooth.
But it took much longer than in experiments on Earth.
The animal made four turns around the orbit. Then he died from overheating.
Death and social dissonance
It was believed that the animal will live 7 days. In reality, things turned out worse.
Laika lasted 6 hours.
After the death of the animal, plaintive letters rained down from everywhere.
People were outraged that the designers did not take care of the return of the animal. They accused Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev and the workers of the Institute of ill-treatment. The government received threatening letters, the people demanded to perpetuate the memory of the hero.
The dog had to be white in order to effectively stand out in the frame. The importance of flying was preached in schools as something good for the future. Teachers tried not to focus the children's attention on the tragic outcome. There is an opinion that the death of the animal was initially not even talked about in the media. This sad news was hushed up. Scientists said that the animal was euthanized after the experiment.
Subsequently, the deception was exposed.
The memory of the dog after a while was nevertheless immortalized, and this cannot but rejoice.
The role of Laika astronaut for the future of science
The first astronaut dog made a great contribution to space exploration. Today, the death of an innocent animal could have been avoided. This puts a certain negative imprint on this experiment. But do not forget that Laika really trodden the space road to the future of science and technology.
Subsequently, other representatives returned to the planet alive.
In memory of the dog, monuments were erected in different cities. One of them is located near the Institute of Aviation and Military Medicine.
Thus, the experiment to send the first dog into space cannot be considered humane, since sufficient measures were not taken to return the animal to Earth. However, this experiment shed light on new space tests, which, of course, is confirmed by the annual discoveries in the field of space.
Laika is not forgotten.
People remember what a great contribution this little dog made to the development of science and technology. Her memory is immortalized in various phenomena culture.
60 years ago, on November 3, 1957, the second artificial Earth satellite was launched. On board the Sputnik 2 was a dog Laika, about 2 years old, which became the first living creature put into Earth orbit.
The “cosmonaut candidate” was found literally twelve days before the rocket was launched. At the last moment, the choice of scientists fell on a dog, and not on other mammals, and Laika was taken from a pet shelter. They decided not to take thoroughbred dogs, as they are less adapted to difficult conditions.
Preparations began almost immediately after the start of the space age - launch. The idea with the flight of an animal in a special spacecraft became the consolidation of the success of the Soviet Union in the space industry.
The device was designed literally "on the go", immediately bringing ideas to life. Laika also received special training. Unfortunately, everyone understood: it would be a one-way flight.
Laika is the first "Dog-Cosmonaut".
During takeoff, enormous overloads fell upon the dog. She was pressed into the container, but she was able to bear the load. Due to an error in calculating the area of the satellite and the lack of a thermal control system, the temperature inside rose to 40 ° C and Laika died from stress and overheating after four orbits around the Earth.
A special commission from the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers did not believe that Laika died due to a design error and ordered experiments with similar conditions on Earth, which resulted in the death of 2 more dogs.
Monument to Laika in Moscow.
Laika became a hero who died in the name of science. Today there are photographs of the heroic animal in every museum of astronautics and in a huge number of books about space; postcards and stamps have also been issued in her honor.
On April 11, 2008, in Moscow, on Petrovsky-Razumovskaya Alley, on the territory of the Institute of Military Medicine, where a space experiment was being prepared, a monument to Laika was erected. The two-meter monument is a space rocket, turning into a palm, on which Laika proudly stands. Laika has forever remained in the history of space exploration.
San Francisco, USA. Our days. © Photo by humansofsiliconvalley.com
One of the most egregious injustices in history is that this dog still does not have the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Or at least Russian Federation(posthumously).
And this error has not been corrected until today. But today, November 3, marks the 60th anniversary of the flight of the first living creature into space. On this day in 1957, the first cosmonaut in history, the mongrel Laika, made four orbits around the Earth on the Sputnik-2 spacecraft and died.
Laika is the first Living being in space, in fact, the first astronaut. Her tragic fate, the subsequent fame and memory of the dog, which proved that living beings are capable of making space flights - all this draws on the title of a real Hero. Moreover, in her face, the muzzle will be awarded to all animals that have paved the way into space for science.
This collection contains 23 facts about Laika, who has done a lot not only for science and domestic cosmonautics, but also for what is now called "promoting the image of the country abroad."
1. When the question arose of who to send into space, scientists chose between dogs and monkeys.
Photo by NASA
The dogs were chosen because they are more unpretentious and more amenable to training. There was also a political reason - the Americans used primates, and Soviet scientists did not want repetition. Pictured is the chimpanzee Ham, who flew into space on January 31, 1961 from the United States and returned home.
2. Laika is not the first animal to travel into space.
Dezik and Gypsy are the first dogs to fly a geophysical rocket into the upper atmosphere on July 22, 1951. Photo Wikipedia.
Even before Sputnik-2, there were launches of geophysical rockets with various dogs. There is a memorable date - July 22, 1951. The first flight of a "dog crew" on a vertical-launched geophysical rocket. But these devices, reaching several hundred kilometers, "snapped" containers with animals. And they parachuted down to earth.
With Laika it was different. She had to go into orbit and within a week (the life support system was enough) to make orbits around the planet.
3. Casting
The photo shows the Sputnik-2 spacecraft with a biocosmonaut on board. Photo Wikipedia.
For an orbital flight, they wanted to select a mongrel dog, weighing no more than 7 kilograms. Thoroughbred dogs were excluded due to effeminacy and weakness. Photographers and television people demanded that the dog be white - this is how the animal looked better in the photo and film frames. A dozen animals reached the semi-finals of the casting. Three made it to the final - Mukha, Albina and Laika.
For various reasons, they chose the latter, she was then about two years old.
4. Before the flight, Laika underwent surgery, during which they installed breathing sensors on the ribs and a pulse sensor near the carotid artery.
Photo Wikipedia.
And more about the torment of animals ... The commission from the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers did not believe that Laika died due to a design error, and ordered experiments with similar conditions on Earth, as a result of which 2 more dogs died.
5. Laika had no chance to return alive.
At that time, there was still no system that would return vehicles from space to earth without significant damage. But even in flight, due to an error in the calculations, the dog lived only four orbits around the Earth. Due to the tight deadlines (it was imperative to be in time for the 40th anniversary of the revolution), a lot was done "at random". In flight, the cabin quickly began to heat up, the temperature reached 40 degrees and the dog died.
6. The authorities are hiding…
Laika during training in the Sputnik-2 apparatus.
According to Soviet tradition, they were not going to tell the truth, and all seven planned days were told about Laika's life in space. And then, upon completion of all the planned work, she was allegedly “put to sleep”.
Two months in space Laika is worn.
Whether alive, dead, try to find out.
The breath has not been written by the apparatus for a long time,
But everyone froze in anticipation of awards!
These poems were written by Colonel Vitaly Georgievich Volovich, later the head of the group of meetings and rescue of astronauts.
7. In the USSR, at first, they did not pay any attention to the first flight of a living creature into space.
Surprisingly, the USSR propaganda machine did not place any emphasis on Laika's flight into space. TASS officially announced the launch of Sputnik 2 on the same day, but there is no emphasis on the flight of the dog in the agency's information. The scientific research equipment is simply listed, where the animal is mentioned separated by commas.
8. In the West, the Sputnik-2 flight with Laika became a sensation. The press expressed admiration for the dog and at the same time worried about it.
As already mentioned, the authorities concealed that the dog literally burned alive for several hours. But even the very fact of launching an animal into space without the possibility of returning has upset many people around the world.
Animal welfare organizations said that flying is a real barbarism. The New York Times published an article calling Laika "the loneliest and most miserable dog in the world."
9. In the West, they even offered to send the then head of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev into space.
But the most famous case associated with the experience of the fate of the dog, which was reflected in Soviet propaganda, is the story about the Negro children. Allegedly, one of the American women offered to send them into space (without the possibility of returning), and not the dog. The source of this information is usually not specified.
In fact, this letter is cited in the book The Third Side of the Dollar by Albertas Laurinciukas, a staff correspondent in the United States of the Selskaya Zhizn newspaper (M., 1968, p. 27). There is a quotation from the alleged letter to the UN from one woman from Mississippi: "If the development of science needs to be sent to cosmos of living beings, in our city for this there is any arbitrariness." This is most likely a lie.
10. The resonance from Laika's flight was still so great, because in the West it frightened many.
Politicians and the media in the West sometimes went overboard, as it now seems, whipping up fear about Soviet space successes. But let's not forget that the destruction of capitalism was officially declared the goal of the USSR in many communist policy documents, and General Secretary Khrushchev promised to show America "Kuzkin's mother." The term "peaceful coexistence of the two systems" appeared only in the 1970s.
11. Some of the employees who participated in the preparation of Laika suffered psychologically the death of a dog.
Apparently, the text of the solemn line (or its imitation) dedicated to astronauts was used as a vocal sample throughout the track. The girl in a cheerful voice lists the heroes “whose names will live forever” - it is gratifying that in the long list, after Gagarin, Titov, Leonov, Tereshkova and Savitskaya, the names of Belka, Strelka and Laika are mentioned.
Today, in the afternoon, Roskosmos posted a 7-minute film about Laika's flight - "Laika in the Universe" on its social media accounts. It briefly tells about the preparation and the first flight of a living creature into space.
In the autumn of 1957, the USSR accomplished another feat. For the first time in history, a mammal was launched into space orbit. However, the triumph did not work out - the world sadly met a new breakthrough into space.
Favorite
Laika was chosen as the first animal astronaut just 12 days before launch. At first the choice was between rats, mice, monkeys and dogs. Then the experts still settled on best friends person. According to legend, the leadership of the USSR believed that dogs were loved more than other mammals, so a hero dog would glorify the Soviet Union faster than a rat or a monkey.
They decided to take the dog from the shelter - experts believed that thoroughbred dogs were too fastidious and would not be able to withstand long in orbit. In addition, the mongrel must certainly be of a light color in order to look good in the photo. Laika was chosen by the method of elimination: one of the applicants was simply pitied (she carried puppies), the second was decided to be kept for pragmatic reasons, since she was regularly used in research on technological equipment. There was no one to feel sorry for Laika - she was supposed to become a “suicide passenger”.
The last victim of the October Revolution
The launch of Sputnik 2 was a somewhat spontaneous decision. After the triumphant flight of the first artificial Earth satellite on October 4, 1957, the Soviet authorities wanted to quickly consolidate their success and surprise the world with a new achievement. 40th anniversary approaching October revolution- an excellent reason. Almost two weeks before the new "cosmic issue" from Nikita Khrushchev, they decide that now the "space animal" will "surprise" the international community. By the way, Sputnik-2 was created on the knee: there were not even any preliminary sketches. Designers designed a new spacecraft right in the shops, one might say, writing it right on the go. Of course, no one thought about the dog, which was to accomplish a feat. Everyone understood that she was doomed - the satellite was not supposed to return to Earth. The only question was how long Laika would live in space orbit.
last flight
Laika turned out to be a very docile dog. Immediately after the launch of the satellite, telemetry reported that the launch overloads pressed the dog to the container tray, while the dog behaved calmly. Since the project was prepared on the knee, no reliable life support system was created on the satellite. The designers expected that Laika would die with the end of the supply of electricity on the spacecraft - in six days. However, the dog died just a few hours later - from overheating.
"The shaggyest, loneliest, most miserable dog in the world"
So the American correspondent of The New York Times wrote about the "doomed to death" Laika the day after the flight. Similar articles sympathizing with the dog appeared all over the world. In many countries, there were protests by animal rights activists: Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev was called a communist barbarian and flayer. Of course, one could talk about the "order" of the imperialists, about the envy of capitalism to socialism, but politics had nothing to do with it. The world, which the first satellite met with hope and joy, now, for the first time in history, was almost on the air in anticipation of the death of a living being. No one wanted such technological progress.
"She fell asleep"
In the meantime, the first warm-blooded cosmonaut was commemorated in the West, in the Soviet press, a few days after the actual death of the dog, they talked about her well-being. On the eighth day, they reported that communication with the satellite was lost, and even later - about the "planned euthanasia" of the animal. And here the Soviet people have already begun to wake up. The fact is that no one warned the public that the dog was doomed and would never return to Earth. The USSR media modestly kept silent about the details of the “return” from the very beginning, so the citizens sincerely waited for the heroic mongrel, thinking out ways to “land” her.
"Khrushchev into space!"
Another feat of the Soviet cosmonautics turned out to be blurred because of public opinion. Moreover, it was not only the defenders of animals in the West who spoiled it. In the USSR, for many, the feeling of patriotism also failed - "everyone felt sorry for the dog." The news of the death of a cute mongrel with pain echoed in the hearts of many Soviet citizens. Of course, the children were the most upset. By special order, many schools conducted “explanatory work”: teachers told sentimental schoolchildren about how important space flights are for the USSR, that a dumb creature like a dog is not the most serious victim in the exploration of the Universe, and in general - an unknown mongrel now became famous to the whole world. However, the wave of discontent did not subside for a long time. There was a joke among the people that Khrushchev should fly next into space. It is curious that hundreds of letters came to the Kremlin with a proposal to award Laika posthumously with the Order of the Hero of the Soviet Union and confer a military rank. They say that the authorities even discussed these popular initiatives.
"I do not like? Then smoke!"
To Work with public opinion in the "domestic market" in the USSR at that time they still did not know how - they were used to bringing people's feelings with the help of another "therapy". But there was a “thaw” in the yard, so it was necessary to look for more sincere ways. They decided to “relax” the country with the help of a new variety of Laika cigarettes (later cigarettes), which, apparently, according to the idea of the then “PR people”, were supposed to turn all civil sympathy for the unfortunate dog into smoke. According to the tales of the time, Khrushchev initially planned to make Laika a kind of umbrella brand: under the nickname of an animal-cosmonaut, it was planned to launch sweets, ice cream and even processed cheese. But someone with a sober mind in Khrushchev's team warned that there might be too much, so they decided to stop only at cigarettes. True, a somewhat ominous and cynical logical chain came out - "The dog burned down, and cigarettes also burn."