Pioneering dogs in space
Prior to sending the first human cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, into space in 1961, the Soviet Union practiced with dogs.
The first dogs in space were Dezik and Tsygan, who made a suborbital flight in 1951:
They came back to Earth safely. Dezik made a second flight with a dog named Lisa, but sadly the two perished when the parachute failed to deploy.
The first dog to actually achieve Earth orbit was Laika, launched by the Soviets in 1957. However, Laika died in orbit:
Among people who follow this sort of thing, it is Laika who has "gone down in history" (incorrectly as the "first dog in space").
Belka and Strelka were the first dogs to successfully orbit Earth and return safely. They were launched by the Soviet Union in 1960, in Sputnik 5:
The first dogs in space were Dezik and Tsygan, who made a suborbital flight in 1951:
They came back to Earth safely. Dezik made a second flight with a dog named Lisa, but sadly the two perished when the parachute failed to deploy.
The first dog to actually achieve Earth orbit was Laika, launched by the Soviets in 1957. However, Laika died in orbit:
Among people who follow this sort of thing, it is Laika who has "gone down in history" (incorrectly as the "first dog in space").
Belka and Strelka were the first dogs to successfully orbit Earth and return safely. They were launched by the Soviet Union in 1960, in Sputnik 5:
