Laika
Laika (in Russian Лайка, 'barking girl'; Moscow, Soviet Union, 1954 - Sputnik 2, Low Earth Orbit, November 3, 1957) was a Soviet space dog who became the first living terrestrial being to orbit the Earth. She did so aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft on November 3, 1957, one month after the Sputnik 1 satellite. She was also the first animal to die in orbit.
As little was known about the effects spaceflight could have on living things at the time of Laika's mission, and suborbital technology had not yet been developed, there was no expectation that Laika would survive. Some scientists believed that humans could not survive launch or the conditions of outer space, so flight engineers saw animal flights as the necessary precursors to human missions. Laika, a mutt, originally named Kudryavka (Кудрявка, 'little curly-haired girl'), underwent training with two other dogs, and was eventually chosen as the crew member of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2, launched into outer space on November 3, 1952..
Laika died hours after launch from overheating, which was likely caused by the failure of the R-7 power plant's sustainer, which is part of the spacecraft's thermal system, to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of his death was not revealed until 2002; instead, it was widely reported that she had died on the sixth day, she was deprived of oxygen, or as the Soviet government initially claimed, she was euthanized before oxygen depletion. The experiment demonstrated that it is possible for a living passenger to survive being put into orbit and endure microgravity, paving the way for human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to their environments. space flights. After Laika, the USSR sent eight more dogs into space, six of which returned to Earth alive.
On April 11, 2008, Russian authorities unveiled a monument to Laika. This small monument in his honor was built near the military research center in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight into space. It features the figure of a dog that is placed on top of a rocket.
Sputnik 2
Following the success of Sputnik 1, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev requested that a second artificial satellite be launched into space for the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, November 7, 1957. When this request was received, the a more sophisticated satellite was being built, but would not be ready until a month after the required date, so it was discarded. The discarded satellite would be Sputnik 3.
To meet the November deadline, a new ship would have to be built. Specifically, Khrushchev wanted to offer his engineers a "spectacular space," a mission that would repeat the triumph of Sputnik I, stunning the world with Soviet feats. Plans settled on an orbital flight with a dog. Soviet rocket engineers had anticipated a dog orbit before attempting human spaceflight; since 1951, they had launched 12 dogs into suborbital space on ballistic flights, gradually working toward an orbital mission possibly sometime in 1958. To meet Khrushchev's demands, the orbital flight dog was sped up for launch in November.
According to Russian sources, the official decision to launch Sputnik 2 was made on October 10 or 12, leaving the team only four weeks to design and build the spacecraft. Sputnik 2 therefore had some a rush job, with most elements of the spaceship being built based on sketches. In addition to the main mission of sending a passenger to live in space, Sputnik 2 also contained instrumentation for measuring solar radiation and cosmic rays.
The ship was equipped with a life support system consisting of an oxygen generator and devices to prevent oxygen poisoning, also known as the Paul Bert effect, and to absorb carbon dioxide. A fan, designed to activate when the cabin temperature exceeded 15 °C, was added to maintain the animal's temperature. Sufficient food (in gelatinous form) was provided for a seven-day flight, and the bitch was fitted with a bag to collect waste. Additionally, a harness was designed to be placed on the animal, so there were no chains to restrict its movements when sitting, standing or lying down; since in the cabin there was no space to turn around. An electrocardiogram monitored the heart rate, and additional instrumentation measured the dog's respiratory rate, peak blood pressure, and movements.
Training
Laika was found as a stray dog wandering the streets of Moscow. Soviet scientists chose to use stray dogs from Moscow as it was assumed that these animals had already learned to withstand extreme cold and starvation. This specimen was a 5 kg (11 lb) mixed-breed female approximately three years old. Another account reported that she weighed around 6 kg (13 lb). Soviet personnel gave her various names and nicknames, including Kudryavka (curly girl), then Zhuchka (little bug), and then Limonchik (little lemon).. Laika, the Russian name for several breeds of dogs similar to the husky, would be the name popularized throughout the world. The North American press nicknamed her Muttnik (mutt + the suffix -nik) as a pun on Sputnik, or also referred to her as Curly. Pedigree is unknown, although it is generally accepted that he was part husky or other Nordic breed, and possibly part terrier. A Russian magazine described his temperament as phlegmatic, arguing that he did not fight with other dogs. Vladimir Yazdovsky, who led the rocket test dog program, wrote in a belated post that "Laika was calm and charming".
Before the launch of Sputnik 2, both the Soviet Union and the United States had already launched live animals on suborbital flights. For the Sputnik 2 flight, three dogs were trained: Albina, Mushka, and Laika. The scientists Soviet spacemen Vladimir Yazdovsky and Oleg Gazenko were in charge of training the dogs.
Adapting the dogs to the confined space of Sputnik 2's small cabin required them to stay in smaller and smaller compartments for up to 20 days. The extensive confinement caused them to stop urinating or defecating, making them restless, and causing their general condition to deteriorate. The laxatives they were given did not improve their condition, so the researchers found that the only thing that was effective were long periods of training. The dogs were then placed in centrifuges that simulated the acceleration of a rocket launch and placed in machines that simulated the noises of the spacecraft. This caused his cardiac impulses to double and his blood pressure to rise by 30-65 torr. The dogs were also trained to eat a special high-nutrition gel that would be their food in space.
Before commissioning, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with her children. In a book recounting the history of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote: "He wanted to do something good for her: she had so little time left to live."
Pre-flight preparations
Vladimir Yazdovsky made the final selection of dogs and designated their roles. Laika was to be the "flying dog"—a sacrifice to science on a one-way mission into space. Albina, who had already flown twice in a high-altitude test rocket, it was designated as Laika's reserve. The third dog, Mushka, was a "monitoring dog"—she would stay on the ground and was used to test instrumentation and life support.
Before leaving for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Yazdovsky and Gazenko performed surgery on the dogs to connect wires from the transmitters to sensors that measured respiration, pulse rate, and blood pressure.
Because the existing airstrip at Turatam near the cosmodrome was too small, the dogs and crew had to first fly aboard a Tu-104 aircraft to Tashkent. From there a smaller and lighter Il-14 took them to Turatam. Dog training continued upon their arrival, and one after the other they were placed in the pods to become familiar with the feeding system.
According to NASA documents, Laika was placed in the satellite capsule on October 31, 1957—three days before the start of the mission. At that time of year, temperatures at the launch site were extremely low, so a hose connected to a heater was used to keep the container warm. Two assistants were tasked with constantly watching over Laika before the start of the mission. Just before takeoff, on November 3, 1957, Laika's fur was cleaned with an ethanol solution, and areas where the dog would wear sensors to monitor her bodily functions were painted with iodine.
One of the technicians who prepared the capsule before final takeoff stated that "after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her a good trip, knowing that she would not survive." on the fly."
The Mission
The exact time of takeoff varies from source to source, but is listed as 05:30:42 or 07:22 Moscow time. Upon reaching full throttle after takeoff, the respiratory rate of Laika increased from three to four times normal, and her heart rate went from 103 to 240 beats per minute. Upon reaching orbit, the conical nose of Sputnik 2 successfully detached. The other section of the ship that was supposed to detach (the 'Blok A') did not, preventing the thermal control system from working properly. Some of the thermal insulation came off, allowing the capsule to reach an interior temperature of 40 °C. After three hours of microgravity, Laika's pulse rate had dropped to 102 beats per minute; this drop in heart rate had taken three times as long. longer than experienced during training, indicating the stress the dog was under. Initial telemetry data showed that although Laika was agitated, she was eating. Reception of vital data stopped between five and seven hours after takeoff.
Soviet scientists planned to sacrifice her with poisoned food, which Laika would consume after ten days. For many years, the Soviet Union gave conflicting explanations for Laika's death, sometimes saying the dog had died from lack of oxygen when the batteries failed, or that she had been euthanized. In 1999, Russian sources claimed that Laika survived for at least four days, and then died from the ship's overheating. In October 2002, scientist Dimitri Malashenkov, who was involved in the launch of Sputnik 2, revealed that Laika had died five to seven hours after liftoff, due to stress and overheating. According to a paper he presented at the World Space Congress in Houston:
"It was practically impossible to create a reliable temperature control in such a short time. »
Sputnik 2 with the remains of Laika, orbited the Earth 2,570 times, during 163 days. The ship disintegrated upon contact with the atmosphere on April 14, 1958.
Controversy
Due to the problem of opacity over the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the ethical issues raised by this experiment went largely unaddressed for some time. The 1957 press was more concerned with reporting the impact from a political point of view, while Laika's health and recovery—or lack thereof—became only a minor issue.
Sputnik 2 was not designed to be recoverable, and Laika was always intended to die. The mission sparked a worldwide debate about mistreatment and experiments on animals to advance science. In the UK, the National Canine Defense League (NCDL, now Foundation for Dogs) called for dog owners to observe a minute's silence in honor of Laika. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) received protests even before Radio Moscow had finished announcing the release. Several animal rights groups protested outside Soviet embassies. Others demonstrated outside the United Nations in New York; however, some American scientists offered support to their Soviet colleagues, at least before the death was announced. from Laika.
Inside the Soviet Union there was less controversy. Neither the media, nor the books of the following years, nor the public openly questioned the decision to send a dog into space. It was not until 1998, after the collapse of the Soviet regime, that Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists responsible for sending Laika into space, expressed his regret for allowing her to die:
"The longer it happens, the more I regret what happened. We shouldn't have done it... we didn't even learn enough of this mission to justify the loss of the animal. »Oleg Gazenko, one of the main scientists of the animal program in space, and Laika coach.
In other Warsaw Pact countries it was difficult to hold open protests of the Soviet space program due to political censorship. However, there were notable cases of criticism in Polish scientific circles. A Polish scientific magazine, "Kto, Kiedy, Dlaczego," published in 1958, referred to the Sputnik 2 mission. the Earth with life as "pitiable" and "undoubtedly a great loss to science".
Laika is commemorated in the form of a statue and plaque in Star City, the Russian Cosmonaut Training Center.
Future space missions carrying dogs would be designed to be recovered. The only other dogs to have died on a Soviet space mission were Pchyolka and Mushka, who died when Sputnik 6 was intentionally destroyed with an explosive charge, upon re-entry, in order to prevent foreign powers from inspecting the capsule, due to a runaway atmospheric reentry trajectory, December 1, 1960.
In popular culture
Laika's journey made her one of the most famous dogs in the world. In 1997, in Star City, a plaque was unveiled in honor of the fallen cosmonauts. Laika is depicted in a corner of the plaque, peeking through the legs of one of the cosmonauts. In the Monument to the Conquerors of Space (1964), in Moscow, Laika and Lenin are the only characters who can be recognized by name, among all the characters that appear sculpted on the monument. In different countries, postage stamps were created with the image of the dog Laika, commemorating her flight. Chocolate and cigar brands were named in her memory, and a large collection of Laika souvenirs still appears at auction today.
On March 9, 2005, an area of land on the planet Mars was named Laika, though unofficially, by the Mars Exploration Rover mission controllers. The site is located near the crater Vostok in Meridiani Planum.
The Laika has appeared in numerous literary works, mostly science fiction and also fantasy, often telling stories of its rescue or survival. Julian May's novel Intervention recounts that Laika was rescued by aliens. In Jeanette Winterson's novel Weight, the Greek Titan Atlas he finds the capsule in orbit and adopts the animal. A story about his funeral was told in the series Doctor Who. In one chapter of the comic Flash Gordon Laika appears rescued by a race of lunar aliens with a doglike appearance.
The names of several musical groups are inspired by Laika, including Laika, Laika Dog, and Laika and the Cosmonauts. The dog appeared on the cover of the group Laika's first three albums. The band Polaris dedicated their album Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1999) to this character and Ham, the space chimpanzee. Laika is also the name of several songs, produced by the bands Arcade Fire, Moxy Früvous and The Cardigans. Massacre composed a song called "Laika se va" where he recounts the trip from the perspective of the dog. In 1988, the Spanish group Mecano, on their album Descanso Dominical, included a song called "Laika" that recounts the launch of Sputnik 2. The German band C.C.C.P. released an album called Cosmos in 1996, the theme of which revolved around the Soviet space program. On the album, the song "Laika, Laika" has a Russian military chorus. The album Laika Come Home (2002) is a remix made by the group Spacemonkeyz of the first album by the band Gorillaz. The title is a mixture of the name of the Russian dog, with the title of the first film about the dog Lassie (Lassie come home). Antonio Arias on his album Multiverso (2010) dedicates a song to her, «Laika». In addition, the bitch has been the subject of other artists such as Akino Arai, György Kurtág and Åge Aleksandersen among many others.
Tribute
On April 11, 2008, a monument in honor of the dog Laika was inaugurated in the center of Moscow. This monument was placed in a shopping center near the Institute of Military Medicine, where half a century ago scientific experiments took place with the participation of the famous dog. The two-meter-tall bronze figure represents one of the segments of a space rocket, which transforms into a human hand, on top of which is Laika's body.
I still don't know if I'm the first man or the last dog to fly into space.Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut in history.[chuckles]required]