“What was the first living thing from earth ever to travel in space?

Answer 1

A russian dog called Laika.

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, launched on a one-way trip on board Sputnik 2 in November 1957, was said to have died painlessly in orbit about a week after blast-off.

Now, it has been revealed she died from overheating and panic just a few hours after the mission started.

The new evidence was presented at the recent World Space Congress in Houston, Texas, US, by Dimitri Malashenkov of the Institute for Biological Problems in Moscow.

Noted space historian Sven Grahn told BBC News Online that the new information was surprising and significant as it ended more than 40 years of speculation about Laika's fate.

Space pioneer

Laika's mission on board Sputnik 2 stunned the world. Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite, had been launched less than one month before.


Laika had been a stray

It was a metal sphere weighing about 18 kg (40 lbs) and was far heavier than anything the United States was contemplating launching.

An astonished world witnessed the launch of Sputnik 2 weighing 113 kg (250 lbs) and carrying the first living thing to go into orbit - the dog Laika.

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

Shortly after launch the Soviets said that Laika was not destined to return alive and would die in space. The statement caused outrage to many observers.

Racing pulse

Dr Malashenkov has now revealed several new details about Laika's mission, such as her food being in jelly form and that she was chained to prevent her turning around.

There was a carbon dioxide absorbing device in the cabin to prevent the accumulation of this toxic gas, as well as an oxygen generator.

A fan was automatically activated to keep the dog cool when the capsule's temperature exceeded 15 deg Celsius.

According to Dr Malashenkov, a great deal of work had to be done to adapt a group of dogs to the conditions in the tight cabin of Sputnik 2. They were kept in gradually smaller cages for periods up to 15-20 days.

Three dogs were trained for the Sputnik 2 flight: Albina, Laika and Mushka. Albina was the first "backup", having flown twice on a high-altitude rocket. Mushka was used to test instrumentation and life support.

Death in space

Medical sensors placed on Laika indicated that during launch her pulse rate went up by a factor of three above its resting level.

At the start of weightlessness, her pulse rate decreased. It took three times longer than after a centrifuge ride on the ground to return Laika's heartbeat to pre-launch values, an indication of the stress she was suffering.

Dr Malashenkov also revealed how Laika died. Telemetry from the Sputnik 2 capsule showed that the temperature and humidity increased after the start of the mission.

After five to seven hours into the flight, no lifesigns were being received from Laika. By the fourth orbit it was apparent that Laika had died from overheating and stress.

Previously, it has been thought that Laika survived at least four days in space and perhaps even a week when Sputnik's transmitters failed.

Despite surviving for just a few hours, Laika's place in space history is assured and the information she provided proved that a living organism could tolerate a long time in weightlessness and paved the way for humans in space.

Laika's "coffin" circled the Earth 2,570 times and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere on 4 April 1958.

Answer 2

I think that Dickn2000 is probably right.

It is now thought that life arose when the Earch was about one billion years old (and if anyone has found an estimate putting it earlier than that I'm happy to concede the point).

There is evidence that since then there have been a lot of cataclysmic impacts with the earth which have almost certainly put at least some dust into space. The general principle of lumps of rock being thrown from one planet to another has been established by the identification of Mars rock on earth. Bacteria have now been found inside rock, so I'd guess the first 'space ship' from earth with a living thing was a rock.

Failing this, I'd go with the answer that it was probably something unintentionally on or in Sputnik. Some bacteria are amazingly resilient and would probably survive the journey, for a while at least.

If you are looking for the first living thing to be intentionally shot into space, that would be the dog Laika sent into space by the USSR on Nov 3rd 1957.

Answer 3

I don't think we'll ever be able to say for sure. Probably some bacteria from a meteoroid impact, or some bacteria in some of the early rockets. However, we can say:

The first animals to be DELIBERATELY launched into space were fruit flies launched aboard an American V2 rocket in July 1946.

The first animal to ORBIT the Earth was the dog Laika launched aboard Sputnik 2 on Nov 3rd 1957.

By internationally (F.A.I.) agreed definition (exception below), space begins at the Karman Line; 100 km above the Earth's surface.

The U.S.A. does not have an official definition, but considers someone to be an astronaut if they travel more than 50 miles (approx. 80 km) above the Earth's surface.

Answer 4

A Russian dog called Liaka. It means "Little Lemon" in English. I remember it happening, I was 13 at the time. The dog died in space. Give the 10 points to Martin G, thats a hell of an answer.

Answer 5

the usual dog or cat answer is not enough, actually the first living creatures where micro organisms, that where inside and living on satellites that we sent up, basically the very first item we ever sent into space, had living creatures on it.

This is why we sterilise ever thing as much as poss before sending it up or to other planets, for instance the mars rovers could easily spread something to mars that could change the whole infrastructure or destroy any life that may be there.

Answer 6

Hi>
If you mean in orbit around the Earth, as opposed to space itself, many would say the Russian dog, Lika.
Not so.
It mas a chimp called Charlie, sent up be the USA, who sadly did not survive the experience.
The occasion was kept quiet.
But that should now be public knowledge in my opinion.

Answer 7

Jefferson Airplane

Answer 8

probably a bacterium - when scientists recovered a camera from one of the early moonlander missions (via apollo mission) they discovered bacterium living inside.They hypothesised that when the camera was originally assembled , the technician assembling it sneezed at some point as the bacteria discovered is commonly found in the human nose.

Answer 9

Probably some microbes that were blasted away from earth during one of the many large meteor strikes that occurred millions of years ago.

Answer 10

Probably bacteria on the nose cone of Sputnik 2.