Written by: Nitika Kapali - 30016, Grade IV
Posted on: 20 May, 2021
Laika was a normal street dog in Russia chosen to be sent into space. The aim was to find out how long a dog can survive in zero gravity. On November 3, 1957, Russians launched Laika into space inside a spacecraft named Sputnik-2. It was a suicide mission for Laika because there was no way to bring her back to Earth. For the first few hours, everything went normal. Then the cooling system failed. Laika had nowhere to go, and within a few hours, Laika died because of overheating. After the launch of 162 days, Sputnik-2 re-entered the earth's atmosphere & burned up in re-entry along with Laika. Her remains were never found. Statue was made in memory of Laika.
