She probably would have died from this disease anyway even if she hadn’t been sent into space.īut what choice did they have? If you think about it, sending her into orbit was almost merciful because having that happen to you would be worse than dying alone in some concrete cell somewhere… Laika was not just any old dog though, but one that had already suffered unkindness from humans before she even got on board the rocket.īefore she became famous as the first dog in space, she had been locked up at an animal shelter where she contracted parvo virus – a disease so deadly that it is almost always fatal to dogs. Laika became the first dog in space and paved the way for future space exploration with animals by testing their ability to withstand the stresses and strains of such long distance travels.

The scientists found that Laika was a perfect fit for their experiments and launched her into space as part of Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. She was quickly discovered by scientists there and had many tests carried out on her to see if she would make a suitable candidate for space travel. Laika the dog was a stray who wandered into the grounds of the Soviet research institute in Moscow, Russia.

Laika first dog in space