Zahlen, bitte! 48 dogs as pioneers on the path to manned spaceflight

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Before the first human, Yuri Gagarin, flew into space, several animals had already been in space. The Soviet Union alone sent 48 dogs into space. They were used to test the effects of launch, spaceflight, and re-entry on a living body.

Some animals launched paid the price for this pioneering work with their lives. The fate of these animals also moved the scientists, who developed a personal relationship with their charges.

The dog Laika is the most famous living being to have flown into space. But she was not the first animal: as early as 1947, fruit flies were launched into space on a modified V2 rocket. At an altitude of 109 kilometers, they narrowly crossed the Kármán line, which officially marks the boundary of space. A short time later, they landed safely back on Earth. Thus, they were the first documented living beings in space, and the landing was considered the first “soft” landing of a space capsule.

Zahlen, bitte!

In this section, we present amazing, impressive, informative and funny figures ("Zahlen") from the fields of IT, science, art, business, politics and, of course, mathematics every Tuesday. The wordplay "Zahlen, bitte!" for a section about numbers is based on the ambiguity of the German word "Zahlen." On one hand, "Zahlen" can be understood as a noun in the sense of digits and numerical values, which fits the theme of the section. On the other hand, the phrase "Zahlen, bitte!" is reminiscent of a waiter's request in a restaurant or bar when they are asked to bring the bill. Through this association, the section acquires a playful and slightly humorous undertone that catches the readers' attention and makes them curious about the presented numbers and facts.

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Monkey as the first higher organism in space

Starting in 1948, the Americans sent several rhesus monkeys into space on suborbital flights in modified V2 rockets. However, the missions were largely unsuccessful: Albert I suffocated during launch, and the rocket only reached an altitude of 63 kilometers.

Albert II was the first primate to successfully reach space; the rocket exceeded an altitude of 130 kilometers. During re-entry, the parachute system did not deploy as intended, and the capsule, with the monkey inside, crashed onto the Earth's surface without braking, which he unfortunately did not survive. It wasn't until 1959 that the USA succeeded in sending a monkey into space and bringing it back to Earth safely.

Sending animals into space was also important for the Soviet Union: the Soviet Union wanted to gather knowledge and experience with dogs to compete in the space race against the USA and eventually send humans into space.

Dogs as better spacecraft crews

Dogs were preferred over monkeys because they were more trainable than primates and tolerated longer periods of inactivity better, tending to panic and react unpredictably less under pressure. In contrast, the monkeys in the American test series had to be sedated with medication, which influenced the research results.

The requirements for the Soviet animal crews were: calm, small dogs aged two to six years, no taller than 35 centimeters, and weighing no more than six kilograms. The preference for female dogs had a simple reason: they were not used to lifting their leg to urinate.

Furthermore, stray dogs were selected. The Soviets hoped that dogs that had survived the harsh conditions of Moscow's streets would also cope better with the then-unknown conditions of spaceflight.

The captured dogs were sent under strict secrecy to the state research test institute for aviation and space medicine in Moscow, which trained the dogs accordingly and prepared them for the specially designed capsule for animals.

First successful orbital flight of two dogs

Almost exactly 18 years before the first moon landing, on July 22, 1951, the first suborbital flight of two dogs, Dezik and Tsygan, was successful, and they landed safely back on Earth via parachute capsule. They were sent into space on an R-1 rocket (again, a V2 rocket modified by the Soviet Union). This was followed by several attempts with dog crews.

After the successful launch of Sputnik in November 1957, which caused a worldwide sensation, the Soviet Union wanted to go one step further with Sputnik 2: a dog was to be the first living being to orbit the Earth.

Oleg Gazenko, a Russian Lieutenant General, selected the dog Laika for the first orbital flight of an animal. She proved to be particularly calm among three dogs in the selection process. She was familiarized with the confined space of the capsule, the extreme gravitational conditions, and feeding with special food through intensive training.

Journey without a planned return for Laika

However, the hastily designed mission took its toll: while all previous animal experiments had planned for an intact return, there wasn't enough time to arrange a return for Laika, especially since it was much more complex in an orbital mission. Instead, it was planned that the dog would be euthanized with poisoned food after about a week. The reason for the short notice: the Kremlin wanted to crown the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution with Laika's launch.

On November 3, 1957, Laika launched into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:30 AM. Elevated pulse rates at launch indicated a high level of stress, which only slowly subsided. Instead of surviving for several days in space, the measurement data stopped transmitting signs of life after just over five hours. She likely died of overheating, as the friction heat was greater than expected.

Only decades later was it admitted that the dog died just a few hours after launch. Her death in space also sparked a discussion about animal testing in space. While it wasn't a major issue in the Soviet Union, animal rights activists worldwide protested the dog's death, and the Kremlin expressed concern about the shadow these protests cast on the propaganda success.

Emotional bond with Laika still present after decades

But those involved in the project were also moved by the fate of their charges, with whom they had formed a close bond during training. Even four decades later, Oleg Gazenko regretted Laika's death with empathetic words:

“Working with animals is a source of suffering for all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I regret it. We shouldn't have done this. We didn't learn enough from this mission to justify the dog's death.”

With the successful flight of Belka and Strelka on August 19, 1960, the final insights were gained for Yuri Gagarin's flight on April 12, 1951, and final doubts were dispelled.

Laika was the only space mission for which no return of the animal was planned. By 1966, a total of 48 dogs had been sent into space by the Soviets, 20 of whom died during the missions. The findings from these “Soviet Space Dogs” helped create the conditions for sending a human safely into space.

(mawi)