Would you send your dog into space? Russia did!
Would you send your dog into space? Russia did!
Russia marked the 50th anniversary of the space flight of two dogs who became the first living creatures to circle the Earth and come back alive.
The Aug. 19, 1960 mission by mixed-breeds Belka and Strelka was a key step in preparations for the flight of Yuri Gagarin, who on April 12, 1961 became the first human in space.
By 1960, Soviet space engineers gained enough experience to design a returnable spacecraft capable of carrying a human into orbit, but they needed to run an extensive program of animal tests first. Only stray mutts were picked up for such flights — doctors believed they were able to adapt quicker to harsh conditions — and they were all very small so they could fit into the tiny capsules.
Many of the dogs died during tests, including Bars and Lisichka, the two launched just three weeks before Belka and Strelka, who were killed when their rocket exploded seconds after launch.
Belka (Squirrel) and Strelka (Little Arrow) were accompanied by mice, rats, flies and some plants and fungi. The spacecraft landed successfully a day after making 17 orbits.
"These dogs acted like real pros," said Vladimir Tsvetov, an engineer who took part in the mission, said on Rossiya state television.
The successful mission showcased the Soviet lead in space exploration and turned the two photogenic dogs into global celebrities.
Strelka later had six puppies, one of which, Pushinka (Fluffy), was sent by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to President John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline.
Earlier this year, the dogs' story came to the screen in Russia's first 3D computer-animated movie, "Belka and Strelka: Star Dogs."
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- Posted on August 19, 2010
Animals
Art
Russia launched to dogs in space. Many times the dogs died during the launch and during testing. The only dogs that were able to make it were the dogs Belka and strelka. They had to test every dog to find the right dogs and the right type of training!
Russia sent two dogs to space.The Soviet engineers tried animals first to make sure the roket would work.when they lauchned some of the dogs up into space many of them died especially two dogs Bars and Lisickha when their roket exploded right after they lauchned..The next to dogs they tried was belka and Strelka who made it through the whole journey.If you were a dog would you want to go up into space?
Why would Russia send dogs up in to space? To me that is dumb.What if the helmet fall's off.Also why would they make a movie of it?
That is stupid what happens if the helmet breaks
then it will die never do this with your dog the and dog will die not trying to make you feel bad
I think that dogs shouldn`t go up into space. Even if they are Russian dogs :) Dogs can make mistakes and they do not hold the capacity from right and wrong as much as humans do. But who knows, there may be something better about dogs than about humans in some things.
Wow, theese dogs were amazing. Now they know it would be safe to send real people out into space since theese dogs came back unharmed. I think America should try this, not just some countries. It is really amazing how stray mutts could go to space, make seventeen orbits and come back alive. I think they should always test space programs on animals first because it could be dangerous.
I think sending a dog into space is a bad idea. Sending a dog into space is very abusive, mean, and bad to do to a living creature. If you were to send a dog into space it still wouldn't affect your results. I think it's a bad idea! Don't send dogs into space!!!
I think that sending a dog into space is a bad idea. I feel that sending a dog into space is like animal abuse because you do not know if they are going to be able to survive in space. It also in my opinion does not help with research because the dogs can not tell you about what happened in space. The article also said that it was just mutts that could adapt to the weather in space, but humans may not be able to.So, I would say that sending a dog in space is a BAD idea!
I love dogs, but who cares. Don't be so worried about what happens to the dogs. It's better to happen that way than to humans? I have 2 dogs. Although, it doesn't matter because its better than killing humans. just sayin.
This article is very good! I might send my dog into space. But maybe they should do a little more lift-offs before my dog goes into space. I thought it was really intresting how Strelka's puppy was sent to the presidents dauhgter from the Soviet leader Nikita Khruschew. Maybe one day my dog will be in space. Would you send your dog into space?