What is the name of the first dog in space, and what kind of dog was it?

Answer 1

Laika
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Laika (disambiguation).

Laika, shown here in a harness, died from stress and overheating several hours after being launched into space.Laika (from Russian: Лайка, "Barker") was a Russian space dog that became the first living creature from Earth to enter orbit. She was launched into space on Sputnik 2, a Soviet spacecraft, on November 3, 1957. Like many other animals in space, she died during the mission, though earlier than expected.

She was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow, a mongrel female weighing approximately 6 kg (13 lb) and about 3 years old. "Laika" is in fact the Russian name for several breeds of dogs similar to the husky. Her name was changed from Kudryavka (Russian for "Little Curly"), and she was also nicknamed Zhuchka ("Little Bug") and Limonchik ("Little Lemon"). The American press dubbed her Muttnik (mutt + suffix "-nik") as a pun on Sputnik, the Russian satellite program, and some animal rights activists at the time called her Curly. Her true ancestry can never be known, although it is generally accepted that she was part husky or other Nordic breed, and possibly part terrier.

Laika died a few hours after launch from stress and overheating. The true cause of her death was not made public until decades after the flight. Previously, officials had stated that she was euthanized by poisoned food, or that she had died when her oxygen ran out. In the later years it was revealed that Laika has been knowingly sent to the death trip, designing it's spacecraft shape that it would be exposed to dangerous sun heat and radiation to measure how living bio-organisms would widthstand such harsh conditions. Some former Soviet scientists have since expressed regret for allowing Laika to die.

Although Laika did not survive the trip, the experiment proved that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure weightlessness. It paved the way for human spaceflight, and provided scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.

Answer 2

The dog Laika, the first living creature to orbit the Earth, did not live nearly as long as Soviet officials led the world to believe.

The animal had been a stray wandering the streets of Moscow when she was captured and prepared for a space mission.

Answer 3

Laika, a mongrel, had no special qualifications other than small size (20 pounds), short hair and a long neck allowing Soviet scientists to easily exteriorize her carotid artery for blood pressure monitoring purposes. Within the finger sized cylinder enclosing the carotid artery was a small balloon and piezoelectric crystal enabling blood pressure determinations not unlike those a doctor reads from your arm with a stethescope and cuff.

The pneumogram for monitoring Laika's respirations was a carbon impregnated rubber tube. Silver wires sewn into her skin allowed two leads of electrocardiogram and the monitoring of eye motion (electro-oculogram), to study sleep. A jellified food and water mix entered her food tray. Her biotelemetry was readable for several orbits about the Earth.

Finally her oxygen ran out and Laika gave her life for science, paving the way for the men to come.


:-(

Answer 4

While many claim it to be Laika, a Russian stray mutt, many believe that the dog Astro from the TV show The Jetsons was indeed the first.
Picture of Laika below

Answer 5

Laika is the name and think it is a stray... no mention what kind of dog it was except it was a female Russian breed.

Answer 6

I think that's horrible that they send dogs into space like that. I am all for advancing science but within reason. Why can't they send insects or rats instead?

Answer 7

Laika, she's actually a mongrel female that means she's a mixed-breed

Answer 8

laika, russian dog.
it was a female mongrel (mixed bread).
read the wikipedia article for further information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika

Answer 9

She was called Laika, and she was a mongrel. She died not long into the journey.

Answer 10

Lyka, who was a female Russian mongrel.