Monument to the first dog in orbit Laika
The dog Laika became the first creature to enter the Earth’s orbit. It went into space more than half a century ago, in 1957. At the Institute of Military Medicine, Laika was prepared for a flight into space. The second Soviet artificial satellite was launched on November 3, 1957. It was a conical capsule 4 meters high, with a base diameter of 2 meters. The husky was placed in a separate sealed compartment. In Laika`s cabin there were all conditions for existence: a feeding device, a temperature control and air regeneration system, sensors for registering pulse, respiration, blood pressure and heart biopotentials, a television system for monitoring the dog’s behavior. The operation of the equipment and the food supply were designed for 7 days, but the Husky died from overheating a few hours after the launch of the satellite. But this was the only way scientists could understand how weightlessness and overload would affect the human body. At the same time, Soviet officials for several decades claimed that Laika had lived the prescribed period, and the dog was killed by poisoned food. And the radio even broadcast a recording of the heartbeat of a “live” Husky. In total, 50 dogs had been in weightlessness in the 15-year history of “dog cosmonautics”. 18 of them died. Therefore, the monument to Laika is also called a monument to all the animals that died during the test. The two-meter monument is a rocket that passes into the palm of your hand. A Husky stands proudly on it. The monument to the dog-cosmonaut by Sergey Pakhomov and sculptor Pavel Medvedev was opened on April 11, 2008.
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