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Russians Reveal Early Death of Laika

Posted by michael on from the where-no-dog-had-gone-before dept.

jonerik writes "Contrary to long-believed Soviet reports that Laika the space dog - the first living animal to be launched into orbit from Earth - lived for a week or so after she was launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 in November 1957, CNN is now reporting that Dimitri Malashenkov of the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow has presented a scientific paper at the World Space Congress in Houston, Texas in which he revealed that Laika actually died a few hours after launch due to thermal insulation problems overheating the cabin interior. Sputnik 2 remained in orbit a total of 162 days, before burning up in the atmosphere on April 14, 1958."

2 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. lame by Baikala · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I remember a french comic named "proteo" where a green-java-like alien observing the earth space race substracted laika from the vesel and adopted her as a mascot. Even as a little kid i knew it was just fantasy but I always want it to be true. RIP laika

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    16,777,216 comments ought to be enough for any forum!
  2. Re:Ethics of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm really surprised they didn't include a humane method of euthanizing the animal in the spacecraft.

    Reportedly Sputnik 2's food delivery system included a "last meal" - a poison pill which would have euthanized Laika painlessly rather than allowing her to suffocate or starve to death. However, since she didn't survive long enough to eat the entire food supply, it was never used.