The secret of the first dog flying into space

He can't read, can't write, doesn't know how to socialize, but if you say 'Laika' to any Russian at a certain age, they'll be emotional.

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Laika is a dog, and the first dog to be put on Earth orbit.

'Both a large-scale propaganda campaign took place around Laika and its comrades , ' said Damon Murray, editor of the new book, Soviet Space Dogs. ), told CNN Television.

'The images of these dogs appear in children's textbooks, on posters, toys, postage stamps, match boxes, postcards, everything. It really is a symbol '.

Laika - The first dog to fly into space - (Photo: fromquarktoquasars.com)

Murray's book reveals many interesting things about the propaganda apparatus as well as propaganda art under the Soviet Union.

Americans also put monkeys into space, but in the first decades of the Soviet space project, dogs were given priority.

'At first they simply found it easier,' Murray said. Russian scientists caught wild dogs on the streets and trained them. Monkeys are more difficult to train, even though they are more genetically familiar. '

'At the end of their space program, the Russians also switched to monkeys, but the dogs were remembered as heroes'.

Laika, originally a wild dog, was brought into space on November 3, 1957 and the early Russian scientists did not think he would take him back.

However, Europe was very angry about the Soviet Union leaving the dog dead in space.

'Dog lovers around the world unite against it,' Murray said. 'Western countries consider it a misuse of dogs. To solve the problem, the Soviet Union idolized Laika, making it a hero who died for the country. '

Soviet artists were quickly assigned jobs, and the dog became a national symbol. The fact that Laika is a wild dog makes the uncle's charm even bigger: Laika may not be human, but a true proletarian hero.

Until today, images of Soviet dogs flying into space still have aesthetic value and memories.

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