Laika (from the Лайка, a breed of dog, literally meaning,
"Barker" or "Howler") was a Soviet space dog (c. 1954–November
3, 1957) that became the first living mammal to orbit the Earth
and the first orbital casualty. Little was known about the
impact of space flight on living things at the time Laika's
mission was launched. Some scientists believed humans would be
unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space,
so space engineers viewed flights by non-human animals as a
necessary precursor to human missions. The United States used
chimpanzees; the Soviet program elected to use dogs. Laika, a
stray, originally named Kudryavka (кудрявка, literally meaning,
"Little Curly-Haired One"), underwent training with two other
dogs, and was eventually chosen as the occupant of the Soviet
spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into space on November 3
1957. Unfortunately, Laika died a few hours after launch from
stress and overheating, probably due to a malfunction in the
thermal control system. The true ca