All About Space - UK (2020-02)

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Animal astronauts

Inthemid-20thcentury,theUSSRlauncheddozensofhardystray
dogsaboveEarth’satmospheretotestwhetherhumanscouldhandle
therigoursofspace.ThemostfamousoftheseisLaika– thefirst
livingcreaturetogointoorbit.Capturedwanderingthestreetsof
Moscow,Laika– whichmeans‘Barker’inRussian– wasstrapped
intoa tinyspacedogsafetymoduleandlaunchedaboardSputnik2.
ThoughSovietscientistsneverintendedLaikatoreturntoEarthalive,
atthetimetheysuggestedshehadsurvivedinspaceforbetweenfour
daysanda weekbeforedyingpeacefully.Itwaslaterrevealedin 2002
thatherdemisehadbeenrathermoreharrowing.Laikahaddiedfrom
overheatingandpanicnomorethansevenhoursafterthemission
beganbecausea fanhadfailed.HercapsuleorbitedEarth2,570times
beforeburningupintheatmospherefivemonthsafterblastoff.In
August 1960 a caninepairnamedBelka,or‘Squirrel’,andStrelka,or
‘LittleArrow’– joinedbya rabbit, 42 miceandtworats– werestrapped
intoSputnik5.Theseanimalscametoa lessgrislyend,launchinginto
spaceandsafelyreturningunharmed.Eightmonthslatercosmonaut
YuriGagarinfamouslyfollowedintheirpawsteps.Strelkawentonto
havesixpuppies,oneofwhich– namedPushinka,or‘Fluffy’– was
giventoUSpresidentJohnF.Kennedyin 1961 bySovietpremier
NikitaKhrushchev.PushinkahadfourpuppieswithoneofKennedy’s
dogs,whichthepresidentaffectionatelyreferredtoaspupniks.

Muttnik

orbitsEarth

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Enoswasnotthefirstprimateinspace– thataccoladewenttoHam

earlierin1961.HewasnoteventhefirsthominidtoorbittheEarth,

alsopippedtothatdistinctionin 1961 bycosmonautsYuriGagarin

andGhermanTitov.Hisspacef lightwassimplyintendedtotest

equipmentandproceduresbeforeriskinga NASAastronaut.Enos’

1,263hoursoftrainingforthef lightincluded‘avoidanceconditioning’,

duringwhichelectricshockswereadministeredtothesolesofhis

feetifherespondedincorrectlytosimpletasks.Thistrainingaimed

togetEnostopulloneofthreeleversinordertopicktheoddoneout

fromthreepresentedshapes.Inspace,Enosbeganwellduringhisfirst

batteryoftests.However,atthestartofthesecond,thecentrallever

malfunctioned.Asa result,Enoswassubjectedto 76 unwarranted

shocks.Duringthesecondorbitofanintendedthree,thef light

encounteredfurtherproblems.Alongsidefaultyequipmentcausing

Enos’bodytemperaturetorise,a stuckthrusterwashaemorrhaging

fuel.ThispromptedNASAtoterminatethef lightearly.Thoughan

uneventfulre-entryandlanding,thestuckthrustercausedthecapsule

totouchdownhundredsofkilometresfromwhereitshouldhave.This

meantEnoswasstuckinsidefor3 hoursand 20 minutes.Bythetime

hewasextracted,Enoshadbrokenthroughtheprotectivebellypanel,

strippedoffmostofhisphysiologicalsensorsandhadforciblyand

undoubtedlypainfullyremovedhiscatheterwhiletheballoonwas

stillinf lated.Alittlelessthana yearlater,Enosdiedofdysentery– a

sadendtoanunluckyspacechimp.

Perished

Enos’agonising

spaceflight

Survived

Laikathedog

wasthefirst

livingcreature

toorbit

theEarth

Enos the

chimpanzee

being

prepared for

his fateful

mission

that orbited

Earth twice

in a Mercury

x2 images© NASA spacecraft

© Sovfoto / Getty