Russian space dogs: Encyclopedia II - Russian space dogs - Orbital Flights

Russian space dogs - Orbital Flights

Russian space dogs - Laika

Main article: Laika

Laika (Лайка, "Barker"), originally named Kudryavka (Кудрявка, "Little Curly") became the first living Earth-born creature in orbit aboard Sputnik II on November 3, 1957. Some call her the first living passenger to go into space, but others claim sub-orbital flights passed the edge of space first. She was also known as Zhuchka (Жучка, "Little Bug") and Limonchik (Лимончик, "Lemon"). The American media dubbed her "Muttnik." She died between five and seven hours into the flight from stress and overheating. Her true cause of death was not made public until years after the flight, with officials giving conflicting reports that she was either euthanized by poisoned food or died when the oxygen supply ran out. The Russian scientist responsible for the project has since expressed regret for allowing Laika to die.

Russian space dogs - Bars and Lisichka

Bars (Барс, "Panther" or "Lynx") and Lisichka (Лисичка, "Little Fox") died after their rocket exploded 28.5 seconds into the launch on July 28, 1960. Bars was also known as Chayka ("Gull").

Russian space dogs - Belka and Strelka

Belka (Белка, literally, "Squirrel," but as a dog's name it more likely means "Whitey", from Russian: "belyi" (for "white") and Strelka (Стрелка, "Little Arrow") spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik-2 (Sputnik 5) on August 19, 1960 before safely returning to Earth. They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 40 mice, 2 rats, flies and a number of plants and fungi. All biological passengers survived. Strelka went on to have six puppies, one of whom named Pushinka (Пушинка, "Fluffy"), was sent to President John F. Kennedy's children as a present. Pushinka's descendants are still living today.

After death, the bodies of both Strelka and Belka were preserved. Belka is on display in Moscow, while Strelka continues to tour the world as part of a travelling exhibition.

Russian space dogs - Pchelka and Mushka

Pchelka (Пчелка, "Little Bee") and Mushka (Мушка, "Little Fly") spent a day in orbit on December 1, 1960 on board Korabl-Sputnik-3 (Sputnik 6) with "other animals", plants and insects. Due to a navigation error their spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry on December 2 and all were killed. Mushka was one of the three dogs trained for Sputnik 2 and was used during ground tests. She did not fly on Sputnik 2 because she refused to eat properly.

Russian space dogs - Chernushka

Chernushka (Чернушка, "Blackie") made one orbit on board Korabl-Sputnik-4 (Sputnik 9) on March 9, 1961 with a cosmonaut dummy (whom Russian officials nicknamed "Ivan Ivanovich"), mice and a Guinea pig. The dummy was ejected out of the capsule during re-entry and made a soft landing using a parachute. Chernushka was recovered unharmed inside the capsule.

Russian space dogs - Zvezdochka

Zvezdochka (Звездочка, "Little Star"), who was named by Yuri Gagarin, made one orbit on board Sputnik 10 on March 25, 1961 with a wooden cosmonaut dummy in the final practise flight before Gagarin's historic flight on April 12. Again, the dummy was ejected out of the capsule whilst Zvezdochka remained inside. Both were recovered successfully.

Russian space dogs - Veterok and Ugolyok

Veterok (Ветерок, "Little Wind") and Ugolyok (Уголёк, "Ember") were launched on February 22, 1966 on board Voskhod 3 and spent 22 days in orbit before landing on March 16. This spaceflight of record-breaking duration was not surpassed by humans until Skylab 2 in 1974 and still stands as the longest space flight by dogs.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Orbital Flights", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki