clipped from: www.physorg.com   
A view of Laika Nov. 5 1957 the female dog that Russian officials say is riding into outer space as a passenger aboard Sputnik II. Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika a mongrel dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago pav ...
A view of Laika, Nov. 5, 1957, the female dog that Russian officials say is riding into outer space as a passenger aboard Sputnik II. Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a mongrel dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions. The small monument is located near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.
The small monument is near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.
Little was known about the impact of space flight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched. Some believed they would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so Soviet space engineers viewed dogs' flights as a necessary precursor to human missions.