18. The first spacecraft to carry a living animal into out space, Sputnik 2 launched on November 3, 1957, carrying Laika, a Russian dog from Moscow
Following on from the successes of Sputnik 1, on November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2. Although similar to its famed predecessor, the younger spacecraft possessed important modifications to improve flight telemetry, preserve and prolong battery life, and, most importantly, carry a living creature as part of its payload. Selected from among ten prospective canine candidates, a stray mongrel living on the streets of Moscow, believed to have been part-husky and part-terrier, Laika, was chosen to serve as the flight animal. Launching successfully, Laika’s heart rate appeared elevated during her ascent but otherwise entered space unharmed.
Despite claims by the Soviets that Laika had survived a week in orbit before eventually dying of oxygen depletion, information released in the post-Soviet era reveals a different story. After three normal orbits of the Earth, during the fourth her cabin temperature suddenly spiked. Laika died after just a few hours in outer space as a result of this critical overheating. Spending a total of 162 days in space, completing 2,500 orbits, Sputnik 2 plunged back to Earth and crashed in South America. This second immense feat, if controversial due to animal rights concerns, intensified pressure within the United States to produce their own historic space milestone.