Laika

Laika (c. 1954 – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. She was a stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow. She flew on the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, which was launched into low orbit on 3 November 1957. Engineers did not yet have the technology to re-enter the atmosphere, so no one expected Laika to survive. She died from overheating a few hours into the flight.

When Laika flew, scientists knew little about how spaceflight affected living creatures. Engineers saw animal flights as a needed step before human missions. The experiment watched Laika's health closely. It aimed to show that a living creature could survive launch into orbit and keep working in weakened gravity and higher radiation. It gave scientists some of their first information about the biological effects of spaceflight.

Laika's death was likely caused by a problem with the central R‑7 sustainer rocket, which did not separate from the payload. This damaged the systems that controlled temperature, and the cabin overheated. The true cause and time of her death were not made public until 2002. At first, it was widely reported that she died when her oxygen ran out. The Soviet government first claimed that she was euthanised before oxygen depletion occurred.

In 2008, a small monument to Laika was unveiled near the military research facility in Moscow that prepared her flight. It shows her standing on top of a rocket. She also appears on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow. Later, in 1960, Korabl-Sputnik 2 safely brought the first animals back from orbit. These were the dogs Belka and Strelka, which tested the crewed Vostok craft.

This article is about the Soviet dog. For the Greek genre of music, see Laïko. For other uses, see Laika (disambiguation).

Sputnik 2

Main article: Sputnik 2

After the success of Sputnik 1 in October 1957, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, wanted another spacecraft launched on 7 November 1957. It was meant to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. He wanted a "space spectacular" that would repeat the success of Sputnik 1. Sputnik 3 was still being built and would not be ready until December, so a new simple satellite was needed for the November date. Sergei Korolev suggested putting a dog in the satellite, and the planners quickly agreed. Soviet engineers had already sent 12 dogs into space since 1951, though not into orbit. They had planned an orbital dog flight for 1958, but they moved it up to November to meet Khrushchev's wishes.

The official decision to launch Sputnik 2 was made on 10 or 12 October. This left less than four weeks to design and build it. Most parts were made from rough sketches. Sputnik 2 carried a living passenger, and it also measured solar irradiance and cosmic rays. Its life-support system included an oxygen generator, devices to prevent oxygen poisoning and to absorb carbon dioxide, and a fan to keep the dog cool. The dog had enough gel-like food for seven days, a bag to collect waste, a harness, and chains that let her only stand, sit, or lie down. An electrocardiogram tracked her heartbeat, and other instruments tracked her breathing, blood pressure, and movements.

Training

Laika was found as a stray dog wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose street dogs from Moscow because they thought these animals were already used to cold and hunger. She was a small mongrel female, about three years old, and weighed about 5 kg (11 lb). Soviet workers gave her several names, including Kudryavka (Little Curly), Zhuchka (Little Bug), and Limonchik (Little Lemon). The name Laika, the Russian name for several breeds of dogs similar to the husky, became known around the world. Some people say technicians renamed her because she barked loudly. American newspapers called her Muttnik, a joke that mixed Sputnik and the word mutt. No one knows her true family background, but she was thought to be part husky or another northern breed, and maybe part terrier. A Russian magazine described her as calm, saying she did not fight with other dogs.

Before this, the Soviet Union and the United States had only sent animals on short flights that did not go all the way around the Earth. Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Mushka, and Laika. Soviet scientists Vladimir Yazdovsky and Oleg Gazenko trained them. To get the dogs ready for the small space cabin, they were kept in small cages for up to twenty days. This made them very uncomfortable and restless, and their health got worse. Laxatives did not help, so the researchers found that long periods of training worked best. The dogs rode in centrifuges that copied the shaking of a rocket launch, and they heard machine sounds like those of the spacecraft. This made their heartbeats much faster and raised their blood pressure. They learned to eat a special high-energy gel made of bread crumbs, powdered meat, and beef fat, mixed with agar and water. Ten days before the launch, Yazdovsky chose Laika as the main flight dog and took her home to play with his children. He later wrote, "Laika was quiet and charming ... I wanted to do something nice for her."

Preflight preparations

Yazdovsky made the final choice of dogs and their jobs. Laika was chosen to be the "flight dog." She would travel to space on a trip that had no return. Albina, who had already flown twice on a high-altitude test rocket, was her backup. Albina was not picked because she had recently had three puppies, and Yazdovsky did not think it was kind to separate a mother from her babies. The third dog, Mushka, was a "control dog." She stayed on the ground to test instruments and life support. Before leaving for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the scientists did surgery on the dogs so that cables could measure their breathing, pulse, and blood pressure. The dogs and crew flew on a Tu‑104 plane to Tashkent. Then they took a smaller Il‑14 plane to Turatam, because the airstrip there was small.

According to a NASA document, Laika was placed in the capsule on 31 October 1957, three days before the mission began. Just before liftoff on 3 November 1957, her fur was cleaned with a weak ethanol solution. Iodine was painted where sensors would be placed. One technician later remembered kissing her nose before closing the hatch. He knew she would not come back from the flight.

Voyage

Sources give different times for the launch, either 05:30:42 or 07:22 Moscow Time. When the rocket pushed hardest, Laika breathed three to four times faster than before launch. Her heart rate rose from 103 to 240 beats per minute. After Sputnik 2 reached orbit, its nose cone was released successfully. However, the "Block A" core did not separate as planned. This stopped the cooling system from working well, and some of the thermal insulation came loose. The cabin became very hot, reaching 40 °C (104 °F). After three hours of weightlessness, Laika's pulse had slowed to 102 beats per minute. This was slower than in earlier tests on the ground, though it took much longer to get there. Early telemetry showed that she was restless but still eating. About five to seven hours into the flight, no more signs of life were received.

The scientists had planned for Laika's life to end during the mission. For many years, the Soviet Union gave conflicting statements about how she died. They said she had died from asphyxia when the batteries failed, or that she had been put to death. Many rumours spread about what happened. In 1999, some Russian sources reported that she died when the cabin overheated on the fourth day. In 2002, Dimitri Malashenkov, one of the scientists behind the mission, said that Laika died from overheating by the fourth circuit of flight. In a paper he presented to the World Space Congress in Houston, Texas, he explained that it had been nearly impossible to build a reliable temperature control system in the time available. Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik 2 broke apart when it returned through the air on 14 April 1958.

Ethics of animal testing

At first, news about Laika focused mostly on the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Because of this, people did not talk much about the ethics of her flight for a while. Sputnik 2 was not built to return to Earth, and it had always been accepted that Laika would die. The mission started a debate around the world about the mistreatment of animals and animal testing to advance science. In the United Kingdom, the National Canine Defence League asked dog owners to observe a minute of silence each day that Laika stayed in space. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received protests even before Radio Moscow had finished announcing the launch. Animal rights groups asked people to protest at Soviet embassies.

In Warsaw Pact countries, it was hard to speak out openly. Still, a Polish scientist, Krzysztof Boruń, called the mission "regrettable." He said that not bringing Laika back alive was "undoubtedly a great loss for science." In the Soviet Union, there was less controversy. In 1998, after the Soviet system had collapsed, Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists behind the flight, said he regretted letting Laika die. He said the mission had not taught them enough to justify her death. Later space missions with dogs were designed so the animals could be brought back. The first success was Korabl-Sputnik 2, when Belka and Strelka returned safely to Earth. Four other dogs later died in Soviet missions. Bars and Lisichka died when their rocket exploded shortly after launch on 28 July 1960. Pchyolka and Mushka died when Korabl-Sputnik 3 had an emergency and had to be destroyed.

Tributes

Laika is remembered with a statue and plaque at Star City, the Russian cosmonaut training facility. The statue shows her behind the cosmonauts, with her ears standing up. The Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow, built in 1964, also includes her. In 2008, a monument showing her on top of a space rocket was unveiled at the military research facility where staff had prepared her for the flight. Her picture appeared on stamps, envelopes, and cigarette and matchbox labels. In 1988 the Spanish band Mecano released the song "Laika" to honor her flight. The ending of the song mentions her death: "There is one less dog on the Earth / And one more star in the sky".

Karl Schroeder wrote a gloomy science fiction story set in the near future, Laika's Ghost. In it, only older people from the former Soviet Union are ready to dream of flying to other worlds. In 2005 the independent animation studio Will Vinton Studios was renamed Laika after the dog. The 2007 graphic novel Laika by Nick Abadzis won several awards and was placed on the YALSA "Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list. The 2017 Czech animated film Lajka was inspired by the dog. In 2025 Norwegian singer Emmy released the song "Laika Party" to compete in the Irish Eurosong selection for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. The song tells of the singer wishing Laika had not died and was living happily in space. Emmy won the selection to represent Ireland.