Belka and Strelka are famous dogs that flew into space and orbit the Earth. It was they who paved the way for people there. However, before the first successful flight, 18 canine lives were laid on the altar.
The first dogs in space
When the great designer Korolev created the first Soviet rocket, he planned to release a living creature on it in order to find out how it would behave in space and inside the rocket. For these purposes, Korolev chose dogs, since they responded well to training and were unpretentious animals. The very first candidates were recruited on the street and in the doorways. The weight of the dog was no more than 6 kg, and the height was not less than 35 cm. The flight was carried out using R-1V and R-1B rockets to an altitude of up to 100 km. The animals were closed in a sealed cabin on trays and tied with belts. The rocket, having risen to the required height, fell back, and the cockpit with the dogs descended by parachute.
On July 22, 1951, a ballistic missile flight took place with two dogs on board - Desik and Gypsy. The container with them landed safely after the flight. No physiological abnormalities or changes were found in the dogs. They endured weightlessness and overload well. Only Gypsy scratched his belly. He no longer took part in flights. A week later, a rocket was sent to the upper atmosphere with Desik and Lisa on board. But the parachute did not open at the cockpit and the animals crashed. After this incident, Korolev decided to develop a system for emergency ejection of dogs from a rocket in emergency situations. On August 15, the dogs Chizhik and Mishka made their first flight. The launch was successful. After 4 days, Brave and Ryzhik successfully flew. On August 28, Mishka and Chizhik went on their second flight. At that time, an automatic pressure regulator was used, which bleed off the excess gas mixture outside the rocket. However, the regulator malfunctioned due to strong vibrations. The dogs died of suffocation. On September 3, a prepared Horn and an unprepared stray dog were put in a rocket for a flight. The flight was successful.
The next stage of space flights
In 1954, they began to carry out flights into space at an altitude of 100-110 km. The missiles had a system that catapulted dogs at any height. For animals, special spacesuits were made without oxygen masks. On June 24, 1954, the R-1D rocket launched with new Lisa and Ryzhik on board. Fox's parachute opened at an altitude of 80 km in the rarefied layers of the atmosphere. Thus, for the first time in history, a living creature has been in outer space in a spacesuit. The booth with Ryzhik fired back at an altitude of 45 km when the rocket fell. The next seven flights are half successful. Since one dog landed safely, and the other died for various reasons.
In the years 1957-1960, the rockets were sent flying to an altitude of 212 to 450 km. The dogs did not eject, fleeing immediately with the head of the rocket. Together with the dogs, mice and rats were placed in the cabin. The rabbits flew twice. Also, in some experiments, one of the dogs was sent flying under anesthesia.
After the development of the spacecraft, dogs began to be sent on it to enter the Earth's orbit. Laika became the first dog to fly such a flight. She died from overheating and stress. On July 28, 1960, a spaceship was sent, inside of which there were two dogs - a Fox and a Seagull. They both died. On August 19, Belka and Strelka were sent into open space, becoming the first living creatures that made a daily orbital flight and returned safely.
