(50 years ago this weekend) the first living creature was sent into space on Sputnik II. She was a little Terrier bitch approximately 4 years old who was found wandering the streets of Moscow. After the success of Sputnik (a month earlier) which had been a mechanical satellite, a decision was taken to send an animal into space to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the USSR. The Soviets were ahead of the USA and the West in the space/arms race. Now Laika (‘little Barker’) the dog was going to take her place as a Soviet hero.
The story of Laika is sadder due to the fact that she was the only living creature sent into space with no plans made for her return. The mission was speeded up due to the success of the earlier Sputnik I mission in early October 1957 and the scientists involved didn’t have enough time to build the capsule for Laika that had been planned. Had they had a few more weeks Laika would have had the chance to return home safely. To try to keep the mission as humane as possible they planned to destroy her with poison in her last meal, this would have been about five days after take off, however after five hours in space no signs of life could be detected. laika had died due to the heat and stress. She made at least five orbits of the Earth alive and her body stayed in orbit until April 1958 when Sputnik II burned up on re-entry.
During the time leading up to her launch she was well cared for and trained to not panic in confined spaces. Laika was put into her capsule (that was only big enough for her to lie down or stand up in) four days before take off and remained there until her amazing, yet doomed adventure.
In 2002 Laika was fated in Star City, Moscow along with all the other animal Cosmonauts who served the space program. During his speech at the ceremony Oleg Gazenko who worked on Laika’s historic mission said;
She can be found on stamps (you can see some of mine below) and has featured in many children’s books. The song ‘Volare’ (Flying) was written in her honor in 1958 and made famous in recent years by the ‘Gypsy Kings’. It has been performed by people as diverse as David Bowie and Dene Martin but not many people realize that this very up-beat happy tune is about little Laika."The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."
Here is a translation of the lyrics;
Here is a link from youtube that tells Laika’s story and has ‘Volare’ as its soundtrack and has lots of pictures of her - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuTf459ZlyQVolare (Flying)
Sometimes the world is a valley of heartaches and tears,
And in the hustle and bustle, no sunshine appears,
But you and I have our love always there to remind us
There is a way we can leave all the shadows behind us.
Let's fly way up in the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds
We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of
Where lovers enjoy peace of mind
Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind
Just like birds of a feather, a rainbow together we'll find
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings.
I have almost finished a drawing of Laika which is of her being prepared for being put into the capsule of Sputnik 2.
I think we should look up into the sky tonight (and every night) and remember Laika who was an innocent victim of mankind’s folly 50 years ago.
My Laika stamps;
