On November 3, 1957, less than a month after the start of the space age, the Soviet Union took the next big step with the launch of Sputnik 2. This time it was decided to send living organisms from Earth to space along with a satellite. However, at that time there were many shortcomings in this mission.
After this, a dog was sent into space on Sputnik 2. It was the first living organism to travel from Earth to space. This dog’s name was Laika. Laika was the first animal to orbit the Earth. This event began to inspire the United States to equip its space program.
The United States also began to expand its space mission.
Robert Gilruth, director of the Center for Future Manned Spacecraft, told historians: When I saw the dog go up, I said, ‘My God, we should move forward because this is going to be a legitimate program to send humans into space.’ .
The plan to bring Laika back could not be carried out
Sputnik 2 weighed 508 kg, much more than its predecessor satellite. It remained attached to its booster rocket after reaching orbit. At that time space science was not so developed. Furthermore, there were also many failures in this mission. Therefore, no plan could be made to bring Laika back to Earth.
Laika died a few hours after arriving in space
Engineers did not design the environmental control system for a long mission and it is feared that Laika survived only hours after reaching orbit. On November 10, the satellite’s batteries died and data from scientific experiments also stopped being received. Sputnik 2 burned up during reentry on April 14, 1958.
Also read: When the photograph of the Earth was first taken from space, a spherical horizon was seen
The way for these humans to go to space is ready
It took the Soviet Union almost three years to send other animals to higher orbit. This time the entire “crew” returned safely to Earth, the first step in preparing for manned space flight.
Also read: November 2: When the first crew arrived at the International Space Station, many countries took a joint initiative.
important events
On November 3, 1943, the German army began the Jewish genocide (Holocaust) in the concentration camp in the city of Majdanek.
On November 3, 1948, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, delivered his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
On November 3, 2004, United States President George Bush was elected President of the United States for the second time.
