Background
Laika was a stray picked up off the streets of Moscow.
Soviet scientists believed these strays would be better suited to enduring the harsh conditions of space travel. She was a mutt, believed to be part husky or samoyed and part terrier, and went by many names including Kudryavka, which translates from Russian as “little curly.” Those who worked with her described her as being very calm and getting along with other dogs well.
She was just a dog. She did not ask to become a Soviet hero, and could not consent to sacrificing her life for science. Nevertheless, this was her fate, and her sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 – the second spacecraft ever launched into Earth’s orbit and a “huge success” for the Soviet Union in the U.S.-Soviet Space Race.
Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, wanted a “space spectacular” launched in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and this development of Sputnik 2 began. Lead Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev proposed the idea of putting a dog in the satellite, which planners enthusiastically agreed on.
Soviet rocket engineers had been planning on eventually sending a dog into orbit, though this was initially not planned for until sometime in 1958. Due to pressure from the Cold War, orbital canine flight was pushed forward to November 1957 for Krushchev’s “space spectacular,” and Laika’s fate was written.
Training
Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 mission: Albina, Mushka, and Laika. Scientists Vladimir Yazdovsky and Oleg Gazenko were in charge of training the dogs.
Training was harsh. It included confining the dogs to progressively smaller cages for up to 20 days at a time, in order to adjust them to the confines of Sputnik 2’s tiny cabin. This of course caused extreme stress in the dogs and caused the deterioration of their health. The only thing that proved effective in relieving their conditions was longer periods of confinement.
The dogs were also repeatedly subjected to being placed in centrifuges that simulated the acceleration of a rocket launch and were placed in machines that simulated the noises of a spacecraft. These procedures caused pulses to double and blood pressure to soar. Although necessary to adjust the dogs to the stresses of space travel, these procedures were sadly undoubtedly extremely stressful and harmful for the dogs’ overall health. The rushed nature of the program definitely didn’t help, as the dogs were not allowed the time to slowly work up to these challenges.
Ultimately, of the three dogs that were trained, Yazdovsky chose Laika to be the flight dog. Albina was her backup because although Albina had already flown on two test flights, she had recently given birth and Yazdovsky did not want to separate the three pups from their mother. The other dog, Mushka, was chosen to be the “control dog” that stayed on Earth to test instrumentation and life support.
Shortly before launch, Vladimir Yazdovsky took Laika home to play with his children. He is quoted as saying:“Laika was quiet and charming … I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.”
