Science Fiction Dog Names

A second famous science fiction dog well known in popular culture is Kazak the Space Hound.  Kazak made his first appearance in Kurt Vonnegut's book, The Sirens of Titan and has since made appearances in other Vonnegut books.  The name Kazak is most likely a representation of backward and forward time traveling both he and his master, Winston Niles Rumfoord, are capable of achieving in the story.  This is because Kazak is a palindrome, meaning the name can be spelled in forward or reverse.  In the novel, Winston and his Space Hound, Kazak, enter into a space phenomenon known as a chrono-synclastic infundibulum.  The chrono-synclastic infundibulum turns Winston and Kazak into what is described as a wave phenomena extended in a spiral from the Sun to the Star Betelgeuse.  When a planet intersects this spiral, both Winston and Kazak temporarily materialize on that planet.  The Sirens of Titan was first published in 1959 and continues as a pop culture influence.  The 2013 FX animated series, Archer, features an English Mastiff named Kazak, which is a nod to Vonnegut's Space Hound.  The rights to The Sirens of Titan have gone through a number of hands over the years, including Jerry Garcia's but ultimately, a television series was announced in July 2017 that will revitalize Kazak the Space Hound for television viewing.