Thursday, January 18, 2007

Laika the Space Pioneer

On November 3rd, 1957 a small female dog named “Laika” was launched into space aboard the Soviet Union’s “Sputnik II”. She was sealed in a small air-conditioned cabin that recorded cosmic radiation levels, her pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and electrocardiograms. Transmitters relayed this information to the Soviet ground control. Food and water were also provided for her one-way journey into orbit. Laika's capsule circled the Earth 2,570 times eventually burning up in the Earth's atmosphere on April 4th, 1958.