Laika (1954 – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who developed one of the first faunae in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth.

When Laika was found as a stray travelling the streets of Moscow, she was about 3 years old. As Moscow waifs had previously learned to endure conditions of dangerous cold and hunger, she was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacelab Sputnik 2 that was hurled into outer space on 3 November 1957. Soviet workers gave her several names, like Kudryavka, Zhuchka, and Limonchik. In the end, they named her “Laika” which literally income “Barker” due to her loud yapping.

To adapt Laika to the limits of the tiny cabin of Sputnik 2, she was kept in a increasingly smaller cage for periods of up to 20 days. The close imprisonment caused her to stop making or defecating, & made her restless. Then she was placed in separators that simulated the hastening of a rocket launch, then placed in machines that fake the noises of the spacelab and trained to eat a singular high-nutrition gel that would be her food in space.

Before the launch, mission expert Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky took Laika home to play with his broods. Later he said that he wanted to do somewhat nice for Laika as she had so little time left to live.

One of the specialists stated, “After placing Laika in the ampule and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wanted her bon voyage, meaningful that she would not survive the flight.”

Until 2002 it is said that Laika died when her oxygen ran out on day six. Later it was exposed that she died within hours from hotness, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer. On 11 April 2008, Russian officials revealed a monument to Laika in her honor which was built near the armed research facility in Moscow that ready Laika’s flight to space. It portrayed a dog stand-up on top of a rocket.