nwkarchivist:

ON THIS DATE IN 1957, LAIKA IS LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT ON SPUTNIK II

A Dog’s Life

The first living creature to become a resident of outer space is strapped on her back in a tiny pressurized and heated cabin.  The Husky in the now-dubbed “Muttnik” is covered with electrodes measuring blood pressure, heartbeat, and body temperature.  She may be able to bark or whine into a miniature microphone and probably is being nourished intravenously by glucose.  Why a dog?  three reasons: (1) A dog does not perspire and so can be more readily confined in a limited-air cubicle, (2) a dog can register measurable emotions, and (3) a dog can be conditioned and trained to undergo severe physical trials.” 

—Newsweek  November 11, 1957

Laika did not survive the trip.

THE SADDEST ARCHIVE POST EVER.