Many of the experiments that would have been carried out in order to determine the effects of some phenomenon about a living being would be carried out at first with the animals and is that regardless of the estimated results, the animals would be the first to experience these effects.
The journey into space is one of the most complex steps for humanity and this type of idea would have been considered impossible for a long time. But have we ever heard the idea of a trip to space with dogs? What were the purposes of this trip? How was it done?
The first trip to space would be a very complex idea for anyone and this was something very easy for everyone involved in the project to take into account. Both the Soviet Union and the United States were in this race, in order to determine which of these two countries would enter this adventure for the first time.
Due to the thousands of risks that were added to the hypotheses about this trip, the final decision was experiment with a dog.
Thus, several moscow stray dogs, in order to choose those most accustomed to suffering situations of hunger and desolation. Among so many searches, Laika was found, a medium-sized mixed-breed dog.
What was Laika's training?
Despite not being easy, dogs were subjected to strong training sessions to be able to be entered in this experiment:
- They were placed in centrifuges that simulated the acceleration of a rocket, as well as in machines that imitated the sound of the spacecraft.
- To get used to the size, they were progressively locked in smaller and smaller cages.
- This kind of simulated situations the health of the dogs would deteriorate more and more due to the kind of stimuli that were presented to them. Decreased defecation and urination forced the researchers to use laxatives.
Thanks to her serene character and her demeanor, Laika would have been chosen to carry out the trip, being then the day November 3, 1957 that the bitch would take the space reins aboard Sputnik 2.
Why did Laika die?
The history of scientists warned that Laika's death it would have been due to lack of oxygen, but that despite this, it would not be talking about a devastating death, since it enjoyed automatic water dispensers, as well as food to prevail throughout the trip.
In the words of the experimenters, Laika would have enjoyed a safe journey, as well as the necessary supplies to survive for a long time. However, recent sources claim that the story told by the scientists is false and that on the contrary, Laika would have suffered a devastating death.
Time would have died within hours of the flight started, due to a panic attack suffered, which, accompanied by an overheating of the ship, would put an end to the life of the four-legged animal. In this way, Sputnik would have nothing more than to orbit for 5 months through space and it is that as if that were not enough, its return to earth would have ended up burning Laika's remains at the moment of coming into contact with the atmosphere 0.
The person in charge of training the dogs had in mind the little chance of Laika's survival.
That is why this person kidnapped her days before her flight, taking her home just to enjoy the last days of life with a family, allowing him to enjoy a little of the life that he could never have due to the hostility of the street. And thus the life of this dog would culminate, traveling to a space that would end the life of that animal that had not the slightest idea of what happened.