Dying Laika Russian Dog

Laika.

First dog in space, in Sputnik 2, November 3, 1957.

She was thought to be 3 years old, a mixed breed, weighed less than 15 pounds, and was taken from wandering the streets to be a Russian sacrifice.

Up until 2002, Russians gave many lies about how she died.

They actually made no provisions for her return, and she died in space 6 hours after launch.

Before the launch date, Vladimir Yazdovsky, who led the Russian test dog program, took Laika home with him to play with his children. He wrote that, “Laika was quiet and charming. I wanted to do something nice for her. She had so little time left to live.”

Anatoly Zak, who was also involved in the mission, wrote, “after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight.”

October 2002 at the World Space Congress in Houston, TX, Dimitri Malashenkov, a scientist with the Sputnik 2 mission, presented a paper there and finally revealed that Laika died in the capsule from overheating in the fourth orbit around Earth. According to his presentation, Russian government officials were hurrying to get a craft in orbit in time for the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, and said, “It turned out that it was practically impossible to create a reliable temperature control system in such limited time constraints.”

Sputnik 2 orbited Earth 2,570 times carrying her carcass.

Five months later, the doomed craft – which contained Laika’s remains – orbit deteriorated, and on April 14, 1958 disintegrated during re-entry.

Russians lie.

Even about a dog.