Between 1948 and 1951, both the Americans and the Soviet Union attempted to send animals into space, but they never reached orbit and many of them perished. The US sent a monkey, Albert II, up 83 miles into space, but after surviving the flight he died on impact. In 1950, the US also sent a mouse to study its behavior with weightlessness, but that also died. Finally, the US sent an anesthetized monkey, Yorick, up to space with 11 mice. Yorick survived the flight but died after the landing still inside the space capsule, and 9 mice survived.
6 years after these tests, Sputnik II launched into orbit. It carried a dog originally named Kudryvaka, called Laika by the American people. Though Laika didn't survive, she greatly scared the United States given the superiority of the current Soviet space program. After launching the first Sputnik into orbit before the Americans could launch something, and effectively beginning the space race, Americans began fearing the power of the Soviets. They were worried that if the Soviets could send animals up into space, eventually they could send bombs to be dropped on basically any city in the United States.
One source of controversy was the fact that no preparations were made to attempt to bring Laika back alive. Originally, no news was spread to the world of the outcome of Laika, and people were curious whether she would be returning. The National Canine Defence League and England's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals began to make their voices heard and call out the Soviet space program for their use of animals in testing. Eight days after Laika officially died, the Soviets confirmed her death. Laika's cause of death was a mystery for a long time, and not until 2002 was it confirmed that Laika died before 7 hours had passed due to heat and stressed.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-was-the-first-animal-in-space
http://www.ecolinc.vic.edu.au/sites/default/files/pages/Lesson_7_Ethics_of_Animal_Research_Teracher_Notes.pdf
I think it's interesting that Laika was given a lot of attention and meant a lot to people in different ways. Some care about the space achievement, some care about the life of the dog, some care about the cause of death, etc. It's also interesting that the US sent animals into space before the Russians, but that this dog gets more attention than the other animals
ReplyDeleteI think a reason why Laika got so much more attention from the world than the other animals who were sent into space was one; because of her publicity beforehand from the soviet union, and two; because dogs are much more relatable to people than the other animals were. If a person had a household pet, it was most likely to be a dog during that time which increased the sensitivity of the world to a dog being sent into space. The Soviet Union also made very public that they would be launching a dog into space, something that they wanted to broadcast to the world.
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