Laika: The first animal in orbit
The ethics of animals in science
On November 3rd 1957, the Soviet Space Program launched the second ever orbital satellite Sputnik 2. On board this aircraft was a mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she had been chosen because the Soviets believed that a stray from the streets of Moscow would be resilient to the conditions of space than a normal house pet. Laika was trained rigorously akin to every other cosmonaut would be; this included 'rides' in a centrifuge. Laika was not the only one being trained but she was chosen to be the one to travel in Sputnik 2. In the days before the launch a scientist took Laika home so she could play with the kids and family, another scientist broke into tears when they put her into the launch capsule, kissing her nose. This was tears of joy however but rather tears of sadness since there was no chance of Laika surviving.
Of course this was during the pinnacle of the space race and the soviets wanted to be the first to put a man in space, which they did, however they needed to make sure that there was any chance of a human surviving in space so they needed a test subject and since this was before the advent of serious concern about animal rights; dogs seemed an obvious choice given the quantity of strays available on the streets of Moscow. However there was some protests about the use of living test subjects particularly outside the soviet embassies in the west. The RSPCA and the National Canine Defence League, now Dogs Trust, hosted a minutes silence and various other protests but despite this the soviets still launched Sputnik 2 with Laika on board.
The Soviets had rushed the production of Sputnik 2 in order to meet the anniversary of the October revolution, November 7th - due to the change of the calendar from Julian calendar to Gregorian calendar. Now the soviets had a craft that they could launch safely into space but no way to land it and since they had such limited time scale they had to launch the craft without a landing procedure.
However if there could be any semblance of a silver lining in this situation it is that by Laika's sacrifice paved the way for future missions and proved that creatures could live in orbital space craft.
In hindsight we can easily look back with utter dismay at this mission because the reckless disregard of Laika's life, to a certain degree I agree with this sentiment there was little learnt from this that we didn't already know or could've more or less accurately predicted. However it can easily overlook the time period, as mentioned above, it was the height of the Cold War. Alongside this it can also be seen in other experiments by the Soviets in this era, particularly one involving keeping the head of the dog alive when it was detached from the body.
Though this is not a piece bashing the soviets exclusively, as the west also partook in some vile experiments as well during this time period. One such example of this was the experiments done in Porton Down, in the United Kingdom, where 3500 guinea pigs and monkeys were intentionally exposed to small bombs containing bacteria. Of course this was a travesty in the sense that the senseless slaughter of thousands of animals help weigh up the risks of biological weapons being carried in the air.
Of course there was genuine benefits from this experiment particularly surrounding soldiers in active duty where there is a risk of biological weapons but whether this risk was worth 3500 animals is perhaps up for debate in the modern age where we are starting to care about animals lives a lot more now. This generally holds true to any sort of animal experimentation today.
So what lessons can we learn from all of this, is all animal testing inherently cruel? Probably not, but still is it really worth all those animals? Well at least in modern ages animal testing has fallen out of fashion for the most part due to the increase in technological advancements which allow us to test on computer simulations and the general change of ethical views surrounding animal testing from a necessary evil to something of the upmost cruelty. So with the end of animal testing in sight the world can be happy in knowing there will be no more Laikas that will be sent to their untimely deaths. But hopefully more dogs will join humans in space and mans' best friend will join them in space.
RIP Space Doggo
The Soviets had rushed the production of Sputnik 2 in order to meet the anniversary of the October revolution, November 7th - due to the change of the calendar from Julian calendar to Gregorian calendar. Now the soviets had a craft that they could launch safely into space but no way to land it and since they had such limited time scale they had to launch the craft without a landing procedure.
However if there could be any semblance of a silver lining in this situation it is that by Laika's sacrifice paved the way for future missions and proved that creatures could live in orbital space craft.
In hindsight we can easily look back with utter dismay at this mission because the reckless disregard of Laika's life, to a certain degree I agree with this sentiment there was little learnt from this that we didn't already know or could've more or less accurately predicted. However it can easily overlook the time period, as mentioned above, it was the height of the Cold War. Alongside this it can also be seen in other experiments by the Soviets in this era, particularly one involving keeping the head of the dog alive when it was detached from the body.
Though this is not a piece bashing the soviets exclusively, as the west also partook in some vile experiments as well during this time period. One such example of this was the experiments done in Porton Down, in the United Kingdom, where 3500 guinea pigs and monkeys were intentionally exposed to small bombs containing bacteria. Of course this was a travesty in the sense that the senseless slaughter of thousands of animals help weigh up the risks of biological weapons being carried in the air.
Of course there was genuine benefits from this experiment particularly surrounding soldiers in active duty where there is a risk of biological weapons but whether this risk was worth 3500 animals is perhaps up for debate in the modern age where we are starting to care about animals lives a lot more now. This generally holds true to any sort of animal experimentation today.
So what lessons can we learn from all of this, is all animal testing inherently cruel? Probably not, but still is it really worth all those animals? Well at least in modern ages animal testing has fallen out of fashion for the most part due to the increase in technological advancements which allow us to test on computer simulations and the general change of ethical views surrounding animal testing from a necessary evil to something of the upmost cruelty. So with the end of animal testing in sight the world can be happy in knowing there will be no more Laikas that will be sent to their untimely deaths. But hopefully more dogs will join humans in space and mans' best friend will join them in space.
RIP Space Doggo
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