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Laika

Laika was a stray dog from Moscow selected for the Soviet space program to test the survivability of living organisms in space. From a pool of candidates, she was chosen for her small size and calm demeanor. She was trained for the mission and placed in a small cabin in the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, which carried life-support equipment, scientific experiments, and telemetry.

Sputnik 2 launched on November 3, 1957, carrying Laika in orbit around Earth and achieving the first

The mission demonstrated that a living passenger could survive in space for a period and provided data

---

long-duration
flight
by
a
living
animal.
According
to
official
accounts,
Laika
died
within
hours
of
launch
due
to
overheating
caused
by
a
failure
of
the
spacecraft's
thermal
control
system;
the
mission
did
not
include
a
means
of
returning
her.
The
craft
continued
to
orbit
for
about
five
months
before
reentering
Earth's
atmosphere
and
burning
up
on
April
14,
1958.
on
physiological
responses
to
spaceflight.
It
also
raised
ethical
questions
about
the
use
of
animals
in
space
research
and
influenced
later
debates
around
animal
welfare
and
the
design
of
human
spaceflight
programs.
Laika's
legacy
remains
controversial:
she
is
remembered
as
a
pioneer
of
space
exploration
and
as
a
symbol
of
the
ethical
issues
surrounding
animal
testing.