Once you get past the stratosphere, it’s not so bad.
I’m commander of Sputnik-2.
Growing up on the streets of Moscow, I could only look to the heavens and wonder.
To be the first in space is an accomplishment I never dreamed about.
I do this in the name of the motherland.
In the name of Comrade Lenin...
Comrade Khrushchev...
In the name of the party…
And, in the name of sausage.
I am Laika.
This isn’t a happy story.
But it’s my story.
And, there’s little time to tell it.
From three dogs — Albina, Mushka, myself — I was selected for this mission.
What set me apart?
My ability to withstand the centrifuge tests, my superior aptitude to sit and eat
and go to the bathroom in a small cabin and even smaller spacesuit.
Also, Albina just had a litter of puppies.
But the mission was rushed.
After the glorious launch of Sputnik-1, Comrade Khrushchev wanted another success to commemorate
the 40th anniversary of our triumphant Bolshevik Revolution.
But that gave us only a month.
The temperature control system was hastily designed.
And there was no time for a recovery plan to bring me home.
When Sputnik-1 launched, its signal was heard around the world.
On Sputnik-2, the signal of my heartbeat is only heard by Soviet scientists.
During the launch, the telemetric sensors said my heart rate was three times as fast.
The g-forces caused my respiratory rate to increase five fold.
Then, my heart slowed.
In zero gravity—in space—my breathing is slower and deeper.
I am alive!
While I orbit the Earth, information of respiration, blood pressure, heart rate, even my movements
in the weightless cabin are constantly transmitted back.
So, I am alone, but I am not alone.
My comrades can hear me.
And I orbit…
But, this is a one way mission.
By the second orbit, it’s getting so hot.
There was clearly a miscalculation in thermodynamics.
The cooling fans are useless.
I know my comrades tried.
I know they are there.
I orbit for a third time.
Through the small window, I can see Earth.
I’m not sure where the motherland is.
I am a dog afterall.
It’s my fourth orbit—maybe five hours since I entered space.
It’s so hot.
I feel like I can’t breath.
The telemetric sensors have failed.
I look at Earth out the window.
Archive: This is the dog, Laika.
It had been trained to live in a special container.
The apparatus, test animal, and power sources on the Sputnik weighed half a ton.