Going to space is really, really hard. And, it turns out, super dangerous.
So in the earliest days of figuring out how to send people to space, someone came up with an idea — why not send animals first? Kind of like how I make my kid go out in the rain before me to see how bad it feels... except, you know, more dying.
In particular, there are some dog heroes in space history that made it possible for all of the space colonies we have today. Hold on, I'm getting something — turns out we don't have space colonies yet. What the hell? I was promised space colonies by now!
What was the name of the dog who first bravely orbited the Earth?
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Correct Answer: Laika
The answer is: Laika. Man, we really pushed the whole “man’s best friend” thing to its limits with this one. I mean, you have to be one really good friend to let yourself be shot into space in a rocket, especially in 1957. We bet Laika would’ve protested a bit more if she knew there was no chance she’d come back, but she will at least go down in history as the first living thing to ever orbit Earth, launched by the Soviet Union. She was not the first dog in space, however; the Soviets had sent two other dogs to space, Dezik and Tsygan, in 1951.They at least packed Laika a snack and monitored her until she died sometime between four and seven days orbiting Earth. Good girl, Laika. Good girl.Source
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