Download Teacher's Notes

Download Student's Worksheet

The first man to walk on the Moon was the US astronaut Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 space voyage on 20 July 1969. Armstrong famously said, “That’s one small step for man, but one giant step for mankind”. The astronaut’s historic few steps marked the end of years of research and development by teams of dedicated scientists and space experts.

However, it is easy to forget the other unsung heroes of the space programmes. Since space travel began in the 1940s, and well before humans ever attempted it, scientists had used animals to test space travel. Between 1957 and 1961, the Russians prepared to send men into space by sending dogs first. Thirteen dogs in total were launched into orbit as part of the Russian space programme. The first dog to go into orbit and reach outer space was called Laika.

Laika was a stray mongrel. Taken from the streets of Moscow, Laika entered a rigorous training programme to prepare her for spaceflight. Inside the satellite, called Sputnik 2, a harness was strapped around Laika to hold her safely while allowing her access to food and water. As the world looked on, Laika reached outer space on 3 November 1957. Electrodes transmitted vital information about Laika’s heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing. However, as the flight progressed, the batteries operating her life support system ran down and the air in the capsule ran out. Sadly, Laika died only a few hours into her historic flight. Eventually, Sputnik 2 fell into the atmosphere and burned on 14 April 1958.