Laika the first dog in space monument
First human in space!
Laika the first dog in space monument
Monument honors Laika, Russia’s first dog in space
MOSCOW – Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.
The small monument is near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika’s flight to space on Nov.
3, 1957. It features a dog standing on a rocket.
Little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living things at the time Laika’s mission was launched. Some believed they would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so Soviet space engineers viewed dogs’ flights as a necessary precursor to human missions.
All dogs used in the Soviet space program were stray mongrels – doctors believed they were able to adapt quicker to harsh conditions.
All were small so they could fit into the tiny capsules.
The 2-year-old Laika was chosen for the flight nine days before the launch.
Stories about how she was selected varie