Squirrel and Strelka - famous dogs that flew into space and visited the Earth’s orbit. They paved the way for people there. However, before the first successful flight, 18 dog lives were put on the altar.
First dogs in space
When the great designer Korolev created the first Soviet rocket, he planned to release a living creature on it to find out how it behaves in space and inside the rocket. For these purposes, Korolev chose dogs, as they were highly trained and unpretentious animals. The very first candidates were recruited on the street and in the gates. The weight of the dog was not more than 6 kg, and the height was not less than 35 cm. The flight was carried out using missiles R-1B and R-1B to a height of up to 100 km. The animals were closed in a sealed cabin on the trays and tied with straps. The rocket, rising to the required height, fell back, and the cabin with the dogs descended by parachute.
On July 22, 1951, a ballistic missile flew 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 well endured weightlessness and overload. Only the gypsy scratched his stomach. He no longer participated in flights. A week later, a rocket was sent to the upper atmosphere with Desic and Fox 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 a success. After 4 days, Smely and Ryzhik safely completed their flight. On August 28, Mishka and Chizhik set off on a second flight. At that time, an automatic pressure regulator was used, which pushed the excess gas mixture beyond the rocket. However, the regulator failed due to strong vibrations. Dogs died of suffocation. On September 3, a trained Horn and an unprepared stray dog were put in a rocket for flight. The flight was successful.
