Laika cigarettes, USSR, 1958. // Olesya Turkina, Soviet Space Dogs. // Postage stamp, Socialist Republic of Romania, 1969 // Alex Wellerstein, Remembering Laika. // Postcard, USSR, 1957 // Postage stamp, Polish People's Republic, 1957. // Patti White, Laika. // Matchbox, USSR, 1966.

Zhemchuzhnaya [Pearly] with her puppies. Zhemchuzhnaya made a suborbital flight in February 1959.

laika and the pain of loss

Matthew Stover Revenge of the Sith // Laika in a flight harness (via wikipedia) // Aeschylus Aeschylus: The Oresteia // Haruki Murakami Sputnik Sweetheart // Olessya Turkina Soviet Space Dogs // Haruki Murakami Norwegian Wood // Ada Limon Sharks in the Rivers // Marina Tsvetaeva from a letter to Boris Pasternak // @fateology muttnik // H.D. Loss // Lavinia Greenlaw For the First Dog in Space // Why Laika the Space Dog is All Animals (via lakia magazine)

super niche question but can anyone help me find the names of the other soviet space dogs who didn’t survive other than Laika? i’ve been searching and i can only find the names of 6 other dogs when lots of sources say there were anywhere from 15-17 that didn’t survive

after a bath, a play with her trainer’s child, and a kiss on the nose, laika was sent up to orbit in sputnik 2.

"Laika was quiet and charming ... I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live." -Vladimir Yazdovsky, medical scientist

her satellite transmitted for 7 days on the frequencies 20.005 MHz and 40.010 MHz. enclosed is the recording of Laika’s heartbeat before passing away from overheating. 

did she die for her country, for the progress of humanity and space exploration? some say she did. it made no difference to little Laika, floating in the great expanse of space above, peering down through the satellite’s single window, built just for her; the shaggiest, lonesomest, goodest girl in the world.

“Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. We shouldn't have done it ... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”  -Oleg Gazenko, leading scientist, and Laika’s trainer

"Laika, the Littlest Astronaut" is a cancelled adventure drama film, directed by indie filmmaking duo Jon Muscou and Robert Flemming. It was planned to be set for release in 1989. It was to have been a fictionalized retelling of the events that led to the launch of the spacecraft Sputnik-2.

Plot: Laika, a struggling Russian street dog who is ostracized for her gift of foresight, is placed at the forefront of the Soviet Space Dog experiments. Here she must come to terms with her own mortality as well as her complicated relationship with the human race.

Development: "There was no way the film would have performed well financially if we had been able to finish it, but Jon [Muscou] didn't care about that anyway. At the time I thought we were doing something unique, changing the game, making real art ... We were just dumb, sad kids. I don't like looking back on [the film's production] because now I see what he poured all his sadness into." —Robert Flemming

"Laika, the Littlest Astronaut" began production in 1985 under the direction of Muscou and Flemming, two close friends who had founded their own independent animation studio called Reel-Ife. Muscou was primarily responsible for writing the film's story while Flemming tended to the art direction. The film regularly faced the risk of cancellation throughout its production due to both creative differences between its directors as well as budgetary concerns. Four years into the film's production, Muscou, who had been suffering from untreated mental illness for years, committed suicide, once and for all halting the film's production. Flemming has publicly stated that he believes Muscou felt a connection to the real space dog, seeing himself and his turmoil reflected in her story.

It is possible that the picture of an animation cel and production drawing you see here is the only trace of footage from the film available on the internet.

My dream book as a 13 year old (and admittedly, still) would be a xenofiction book based around the Soviet Space dogs. I feel like they're so under utilized tbh

I mean, there's Laika by Nick Abidaz which is a masterpiece, and then those terrible Russian CGI films about Belka and Strelka

Found some old prints of Laika I did in high school

Love the contrast between the Americans’ “Apollo” and the Soviets’ “Sputnik.” You got the Americans naming their rocket after a Greek god trying to communicate the grandness and importance of this rocket. And you got the Soviets naming their rocket “fellow traveler.” Like a friend you go on an  adventure with together. This rocket is our little friend lol 

would you have any pictures/content of dezik and tsygan, the first dogmonauts? i saw a few pics on google, but they wouldn't tell me which is which (though by the name, i assumed tsygan was the black and white one, because 60s). love your blog <3 <3

Hii! I don't have a lot but I'm happy to share what I know. Dezik and Tsygan did a suborbital flight in July 1951. It was top secret at the time and only became known to the public in 1991. Dezik is the white one and Tsygan the black-and-white one.

They were trained before the flight, including the centrifuge.

Their rocket went up 101 km to the edge of atmosphere. The flight lasted about 20 minutes. They spent 4 minutes in zero gravity.

They landed about 20 km from the starting point and were both in good health.

A week later, Dezik did another suborbital flight (partnered with a dog called Lisa). The parachute didn't open on landing, so unfortunately they both died. :'(

Tsygan was adopted by one of the space engineers and lived the rest of his life with the family.

PS: dogmonauts! :D

You guys are really going to Jesus when you want 'sacrificed for humanity' imagery when Laika is right there?

definition of (have) stars in one's eyes : to be very hopeful and excited about something and think that it will be much better or more enjoyable than it actually is

What does Kat think of the animal experiments that were done during the cold war? Ex-bringing a dog head to life, the animals sent to space etc

ayeee poster girl time