Moon Inspired Dog Names

What could be more moon-inspired than the pup who completed the first orbit around the earth, herself? Laika was a stray dog picked up by the Russian Government back in the 1950s when the race to space was on every country's mind. She was chosen based on her calm, quiet personality and small size, weighing only 11 pounds. During her time at the Soviet Space center, she charmed all those around her, earning many nicknames from the workers that handled her.

She was to blast off to space in a small craft that had been put together rather hastily. It contained various instruments to track the dog's heart rate, breathing, and movement, along with food and a harness to limit Laika's movements. As per instructions by the Soviet leader of the time, this mission had to be unlike anything before it. Unfortunately, much to the dismay of those working and training these space canines, no return mission was ever a part of the plan - the poor pups were being sent on one-way trips to push along government agenda.

This proved to be much more difficult than the scientists had anticipated. After weeks of very difficult and stressful training sessions, Laika was taken home by one of the main program leaders. He wanted her to play with his children and experience fun and care just one last time before the rocket was scheduled to launch. To break your heart even more, as the scientists were loading Laika into her vessel, they each kissed her on the nose as they said goodbye. 

It would be years later that the Russian government would finally reveal that Laika was not able to survive long in the harsh conditions of Sputnik II, the name of the spacecraft. They tried to hide their blunders by obscuring the cause of her death, but the rushed job of the rocket had caused an unreliable temperature control issue. Not much information about life in space had been collected - had this canine martyr died in vain?

The answer is no. Laika should never have been put on that rocket, and her passing lead to a worldwide debate on whether using animals to further science was ethically right. Many were finally able to relate to test animals after being a part of Laika's story and seeing her picture plastered on newspapers so many times. Laika could have been any loved family dog - except instead of a warm home to live out her days, she was subjected to an untimely death.

The takeaway was that many of the scientists involved reported the mission as a loss, one that was heartbreaking and avoidable. They loved their subject and would go on to design all future missions to return to earth. Thankfully, the days of sending dogs to space are long gone, as now we see the flaws of our ways. Hopefully, stories like this can prompt all of us to look at the ethics of animal testing and seek out less harmful ways of advancing our studies.