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Russia Opens Monument to Space Dog Laika

Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.

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All dogs used in the Soviet space program were stray mongrel dogs — doctors believed they were able to adapt quicker to harsh conditions. All were small so they could fit into the tiny capsules.

The 2-year-old Laika was chosen for the flight just nine days before the launch.

Stories about how she was selected varied: Some said Laika was chosen for her good looks — a Soviet space pioneer had to be photogenic. Others indicated the top choice for the mission was dropped because doctors took pity on her: Since there was no way to design a re-entry vehicle in time for the launch, the flight meant a certain death.

“Laika was quiet and charming,” Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote in his book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine. He recalled that before heading to the launch pad, he took the dog home to play with his children. “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live,” Yazdovsky said.

The satellite that carried Laika into orbit was built in less than one month after the Soviet Union put the world’s first artificial satellite into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957.

Due to last-minute technical problems, Laika had to wait for the launch in the cabin for three days. Temperatures were low, and workers heated the cockpit through a hose.

When Laika reached orbit, doctors found with relief that her heartbeat, which had risen on launch, and her blood pressure were normal. She ate specially prepared food from a container.

According to official Soviet reports, the dog was euthanized after a week.

After the Soviet collapse, participants in the project told the real story: Laika indeed was to be euthanized with a programmed injection, but she apparently died of overheating after only a few hours in orbit.

Via Flickr– her space suit.

Here are some photos documenting the fabrication of the spreader bar.

Since this needed to be fabricated as accurately as possible I first used a CNC router to cut out an Aluminum template that we could then use to guide the tip of the plasma cutter.

The template has a 3/16″ offset on the the edges that are going to be cut to account for the distance between the side of the plasma cutters torch tip and the cut point. I then drilled hole in the steel plate near the edge of all the areas to be but because the arc for the plasma cutter is best started on a edge of a plate. The large space in the middle of the template is not going to be cut out. It represents where the bars will be placed. The edge does not have an offset and using a sharp scribe I can place a thin line in the steel so that when we can line the ends of the bars up it.

Here you can see several of the plates cut out and in various stages of being finished. Notice the diamond shape scribed in the center.

Here is one of the 15′, 3″x3″ square tubes with the 30 degree angle cut down the vertex.

This is a close up of the end of the bar. Cutting this angle was a bit of a chore. I had to measure from the end of the bar, along the edge, to the proper distance that described the face. Then I wrapped a bit of copper flashing around the bar, intersecting these points, and then traced the line it created. I then cut the tube with a plasma cutter and ground down precisely to the mark

Once all the plates and bars were prepared it all got layed out, leveled and plumbed. Here I got to work in an actual patch of sunlight — unheard of most day in a workshop.

This big yellow thing is one of the shackles that gets connects the spreader bar to the straps that go up to the crane hook or down to the hose. Here we are testing to be sure that the shackles fit and can reach the angles they need to.

The finished spreader bar tacked together, waiting to be welded.

Finnaly, me, relaxing in my gigantic traingle with a root beer (seriously). Photo by Benna.