00:00 On this day in space.
00:03 On November 3rd, 1957, a Soviet space dog named Laika became the first animal to orbit
00:08 Earth.
00:09 Laika was a three-year-old stray husky-spitz mix from the streets of Moscow, and she was
00:14 recruited by the Soviet space program for her small size and calm temperament.
00:19 Unfortunately for her, this mission was a one-way trip.
00:22 The Soviets didn't design a way to bring her back down to Earth.
00:25 With only seven days' worth of oxygen and a little bit of food on board, Laika launched
00:30 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a Russian Sputnik rocket.
00:35 This was the same kind of rocket used to launch the first Sputnik satellite.
00:38 She was alive when she reached orbit, but she died shortly afterward because the spacecraft's
00:42 heat shield had broken off.
00:44 Laika overheated before she had the chance to die of starvation or oxygen deprivation.
00:49 And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:52 [music]
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