Há sessenta anos o Sputnik 2 e a Laika foram para o espaço

Réplica do Sputnik 2

A Sputnik 2 foi a segunda missão do Programa Sputnik, lançada ao espaço do Cosmódromo de Baikonur em 3 de novembro de 1957 pela URSS.

A nave pesava 543,5 kg, e enviou o primeiro ser vivo ao espaço, a cadela Laika. Dados biológicos do animal foram monitorizados durante uma semana, oficialmente, embora agora se se saiba que os dados eram falsos.

Laika morreu poucas horas após o lançamento, devido ao super-aquecimento da cabine; anos mais tarde, um dos cientistas responsáveis pelo projeto disse que se arrependia de ter usado a cadela na missão.

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2007 Hungarian stamp honouring Laika

The first living creature (larger than a microbe) to enter orbit was a female mongrel originally named Kudryavka (Little Curly), but later renamed Laika ("Barker"). Her true pedigree is unknown, although it is generally accepted that she was part husky or other Nordic breed, and possibly part terrier. NASA refers to Laika as a "part-Samoyed terrier". Laika was selected from ten candidates at the Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, because of her even temperament. She weighed about 6 kg (13 lbs).

The pressurized cabin on Sputnik 2 was padded and allowed enough room for Laika to lie down or stand. An air regeneration system provided oxygen; food and water were dispensed in a gelatinized form. Laika was chained in place and fitted with a harness, a bag to collect waste, and electrodes to monitor vital signs.

Early telemetry indicated Laika was agitated but alive and well, although the cabin temperature had already reached 43 °C  by the third orbit. Biometric telemetry failed sometime after the fourth orbit. It was initially claimed that Laika had survived in orbit for a week; decades later, Russian sources revealed that Laika likely had survived only a few hours in orbit before dying from overheating.

The mission provided scientists with the first data on the behavior of a living organism in the space environment. Although the time between Sputniks 1 and 2 was only 32 days, the plan to launch a dog was in the works more than a year in advance. The Soviets already had significant experience launching dogs in high altitude rockets, and they used that experience when ordered to quickly get Sputnik 2 into space.

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