In article <ZfudnbX89K9Od2HEnZ2dnUU7-XvNnZ2d@supernews.com>, Byker says...
>
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
>On Nov. 3, 1957, the Soviet Union lofted a dog named Laika aboard the
>satellite Sputnik 2. The milestone came less than a month after the Soviets
>kicked off the Space Age, and the Cold War space race, with the launch of
>Sputnik 1 on Oct. 4.
>
>Laika was not the first animal in space, however. That distinction goes to
>some fruit flies that the United States launched on a suborbital mission in
>February 1947. (The Soviet Union started launching dogs to suborbital space
>in the early 1950s.) [Photos: Pioneering Animals in Space]
>
>Fruit flies launched in 1947 became the first animals to reach outer space
>and be recovered alive. See the history of animals in space in this
>Space.com infographic.
>
>Sputnik 1 was a 184-lb. (83 kilograms), beach-ball-size sphere that
>basically just emitted beeps as it circled Earth. Sputnik 2 was much larger
>and more elaborate; it weighed 1,120 lbs. (508 kg) and featured several
>scientific instruments, as well as a cabin for Laika, a small stray plucked
>from the streets of Moscow.
>
>Sputnik 2 was a suicide mission for the poor dog; the satellite was not
>designed to come safely back to Earth.
>
>Telemetry data showed that Laika survived the launch, according to Anatoly
>Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.com. Initially, Soviet publications claimed that the
>dog died, painlessly, after a week in Earth orbit. But that account has been
>called into question over the years.
>
>"Decades later, several Russian sources revealed that Laika survived in
>orbit for four days and then died when the cabin overheated," Zak wrote.
>"According to other sources, severe overheating and the death of the dog
>occurred only five or six hours into the mission."
>
>Sputnik 2's batteries died on Nov. 10, 1957, and the spacecraft stopped
>beaming data home.
>
>"With all systems dead, the spacecraft continued circling the Earth until
>April 14, 1958, when it re-entered the atmosphere after 2,570 orbits (2,370
>orbits according to other sources) or 162 days in space," Zak wrote. "Many
>people reportedly saw a fiery trail of Sputnik 2 as it flew over New York
>and reached the Amazon region in just 10 minutes during its re-entry."
>
>Sputnik 2's launch was one of three spaceflight events that shook the United
>States in 1957, causing widespread concern among Americans about the
>nation's technological capabilities compared to those of its Cold War rival.
>The other two were the liftoff of Sputnik 1 and the Dec. 6 failed launch of
>the 3.5-lb. (1.6 kg) Vanguard Test Vehicle 3, which would have been the
>United States' first satellite. (The satellite's rocket exploded, on
>national TV, just seconds after liftoff.)
>
>The United States bounced back with the successful launch of the Explorer 1
>satellite on Jan. 31, 1958.
>
>It took a few more years for the first person to reach space. The Soviet
>Union notched that milestone on April 12, 1961, launching cosmonaut Yuri
>Gagarin on an orbital mission — and bringing him safely back to Earth.
>
>https://www.space.com/38660-laika-space-dog-launch-60th-anniversary.html
>
The pooch's launch chair looks a great deal like my father's Barcalounger from
that era.
...just sayin'
go Warriors!
*
|
|