Laika was a stray dog who became the first living animal to orbit the Earth aboard the spacecraft Sputnik 2 on Nov 3, 1957. The mission was a one-way trip, and she died from hyperthermia and stress between five and seven hours into the flight, due to a malfunction in the cabin’s temp control system.
by Background_Cry3592
27 Comments
What a horrible day to be able to read
*”Stray? Not anymore! These nice humanskis took me in, and now I have my **Forever Home!**”*
Oh, my heart.
I hate animals were strapped in controlled explosions to “better man kind”. What different times they were that this was an acceptable practice.
Poor doggo
“Laika was quiet and charming … I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.” — Vladimir Yazdovsky, *Sputnik 2* project scientist
 “After placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight.” — unnamed *Sputnik 2* flight technician
Laika died during her voyage to space, but was not forgotten. In 2008, a statue of her, standing in an open palm and being lifted skyward, was revealed in Moscow, outside of the facility where she was trained for her mission. Romania, Albania, and Poland have all issued commemorative stamps in her memory.
But why a dog?
Such cruelty.
HypERthermia.
She overheated. Idk what would be worse, hyper or hypothermia. Probably hyper
My dog is named Laika after this pooch and I will not be putting her in any rockets any time soon unless her and I pass on earth and get the wing commander treatment and get shot into space.
I hope aliens don’t judge us all from stupid shit like this
she was basically slowly boiled to death, in a tiny claustrophobic little chamber with low gravity. I can’t imagine that, holy fuck.
The Cardigans made a song about her.
Damn I pray she is in heaven with my scrappy running around no worry and no pain. Only joy and happiness. Please God, Please Jesus. AMEN
It’s pretty fucked that they sent her to her death.
Why couldn’t they send a psycho killer up there?
Gorillaz and Spacemonkeyz released a remix album entitled *Laika Come Home*. It’s basically the first Gorillaz album remade in a dub/reggae style. It’s still one of my favorite releases after all these years.
[Spacemonkeyz vs. Gorillaz: Laika Come Home](https://youtu.be/JsmCjNBkCEY?si=ZP-vm29HZJpNYhRQ)
Beppo go home?
Ok question, how do we know her cause of death if it was a one way trip? Poor girl didn’t deserve that.
>the first living animal
Did they first send dead animals into space? Or why is that clarified
I wonder what that dog was thinking as it looked out the window….
You mean hypothermia? That dog looks frozen in ice.
“Malfunction” = USSR speak for “we shot a dog up there with no climate control onboard so we could say we did it first.”
https://youtu.be/lbMWfpC5yVo?si=iHGNj2KHvEtTjHPh
Laika party in the staaaaaaarssss
*Muttnik*
Laika to Ground Control
I don’t suppose
you’re coming back for me but
I don’t mind, it’s nice out here.
You said before I launched: there’s no way back
—I’m a halfway thing, more bullet than dog
out into the dark morning
and forever
to this black field
where Great Canine winks
her distant starry eye.
Empty as the space that lies between two barks.
Full to bursting.
*
Laika to Ground Control
can I chase my tail? I know
you want me to sit still but
it’s calling me, just for a second, please.
I can see our planet from here
smooth like the wind washed it soft and blue,
we’re going round, I’m having the time of my life you
don’t have to worry
but can I chase my tail?
There’s nothing here for me to knock over.
I miss you. But I don’t mind,
in a hold silver as this any mongrel can be a heroine;
any stray can make history.
*
Laika to Ground Control
[BACKGROUND STATIC]
sorry, I forgot what I was going to say,
Laika to Ground Control
from above Earth is alive at night,
light golden as a million miniature suns,
makeshift constellations.
What do I look like
from below?
Do I glimmer
like a freckle
or an exit wound?
I’ve been sitting still. You don’t have to worry.
I miss you.
*
Laika to Ground Control
they have summer in space,
did you know? The hours walk warmer and warmer,
the ceiling gleams with June moons
begging for a howl.
I’m lonely,
moons don’t howl back.
I would sit still for years
if it meant I could go back to you.
I miss you. I don’t mind. I miss you though.
*
Laika to Ground Control
I miss you.
If you would come out here and pet me
I swear to Dog I’ll be good,
never bark again,
you’ll have to find me a new name.
Kometka, little comet, maybe,
I would crash into the sea
to swim to your side.
Be your satellite.
You’re bigger than Earth in my eyes,
I don’t need stars, only you.
*
Laika to Ground Control
there are pinpricks of light
behind my eyes.
Hot like a bite.
The world is fast and unbreakable,
and I’m just a dog.
And I miss you.
*
Laika to Ground Control
I miss you. Have I told you that yet?
Out there in the silk-black nothing they’ve long
forgotten what time is.
In here time crawls.
In here everything shimmers,
in here it’s just me.
I think I’m dying.
You don’t have to worry, I was nothing and you
swung me from alley to orbit,
from the dirt to the stars.
I don’t mind. I just miss you.
I miss you
like the space that lies
between two breaths.
Full to burning.
Human beings. Being awful since 350,000 BCE