Laika the Russian space-dog

Once upon a time in a far-away land on the other side of the world some very learned scientists were asked to select and prepare an animal for a space flight of historic importance.

The scientists were amused and whispered privately to each other how absurd was this request since as far as they knew no one had the huge rockets required to accomplish this undertaking. They thought space flight was impossible. Nevertheless they did as directed and set about the task.

The scientists were told the animal selected could not exceed twenty pounds in weight and would be provided a small, heated cabin with sufficient air to breath just as if the animal still was on the surface of the Earth. They were to fully monitor all the body functions of the animal selected and transmit the information back to Earth. The scientists rapidly set to work because only a few months remained before the deadline they were given for completion.

After careful consideration of all the many animals available to them from mice, rats and guinea pigs to monkeys, chimpanzees, rabbits and dogs, the scientists were in a quandary as to which animal to choose. Finally one of the scientists said, "We will make a list of all the requirements we think are important and then select the animal which best matches our requirements." The other scientists agreed and made their list. They wanted an animal that was sturdy and strong to stand the rigors of rocket launch. They wanted an animal that was calm and easy to handle and it must be intelligent.

"There is only one animal that fits," shouted one of the scientists, "A Beagle dog." His companions all agreed and a Beagle dog was chosen from the available animals. Laika was its name. Laika was to be the first Earth creature ever launched into space. Next they devised a restraint harness not unlike the vests sometimes seen on dogs to keep them warm.

Springs attached the sides of the vests to the frame of the tiny cabin and a special holder was placed under Laika's jaw to help support her head during the launch forces. Once in space the holder would be withdrawn and the restraining springs loosened to allow Laika to move her head while floating about in the zero gravity of space, tethered by her vest. Since she would be in space for several days a special jelly-like food was prepared containing both sufficient food and water for her needs. It would come out of a little tube, a small amount at a time, just like toothpaste from a tube.

The scientists then had to decide on the best way to record Laika's blood pressure. Simply wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her leg and taking the blood pressure with a stethoscope like your doctor does when you go in to his office for a checkup was impossible. "We must make a tiny cuff for the artery in Laika's neck and take the pressure that way," one of the learned scientists suggested and they all agreed.

It was a simple operation to expose the neck artery of Laika and wrap skin around it, then close the wound. This was called exteriorizing the artery. Then they designed a hinged metal cylinder the thickness of your thumb to be placed over the artery. Within the cylinder was a small balloon which, when inflated, squeezed the artery just like the blood pressure cuff does in the doctor's office. A tiny crystal in the wall of the cylinder recorded the blood pressure sounds for the doctors. An air source pushed air into the balloon every few minutes then slowly allowed it to deflate. Laika did not even know when her blood pressure was being taken, much different from when you go into a doctor's office and feel the tight squeeze of the cuff.

In addition to studying the blood pressure the scientists also wanted to know the status of Laika's heart in zero gravity. For this purpose they inserted tiny silver wires into Laika's skin, one in each armpit and one at both the top and bottom of the breastbone of her chest. In this manner they could record the electrical activity of the heart, which you may already know is called an electrocardiogram. This is a big word but it is easy to figure out if you break it down. Electro refers to electricity. Cardio comes from the Latin for heart and gram also comes from Latin and means a recording, so the word electrocardiogram means recording of the heart's electrical activity.

Another way they studied Laika's heart was by using a vibration sensor over her chest. You may recall a doctor pressing his hand over your chest as well as listening to your heart with his stethoscope when he examines you. That is very similar to what the scientists were doing. They were listening both to Laika's heart sounds and the beating of her heart by the vibration sensor taped to Laika's chest.

Of course the doctors also wished to measure Laika's breathing. For this they placed a rubber tube filled with a special substance called graphite, the same graphite in your lead pencil, so that when the tube was stretched a tiny bit of electricity was produced. This tube was wrapped snugly around Laika's chest so that whenever she breathed a signal was produced, which the scientists recorded.

At about this time the scientists got a big surprise for the date was October of 1957, when suddenly headlines the world over boldly carried the news that Sputnik had been launched! This was the first artificial satellite ever launched by man. As some of you may already know, Sputnik was launched by Russia, called the Soviet Union in those days.

It was a huge event and everyone was just as surprised as the Russian scientists working on Laika for they were told they had only one month to go before Laika would ride to space. Not only were the Russian scientists surprised, so were we Americans who suddenly realized we had catching up to do and so was born our space program and NASA.

Only one thing remained to be done by the Russian scientists. No longer were they joking about how absurd was their mission. Much remained to be done. In addition to all the other body functions they wished to study sleep in zero gravity and wanted two types of measurements. For this purpose they placed tiny silver wires in Laika's scalp just at the outer margins of each eye.

This was a very clever way to record both the brain activity during sleep and also the motion of the eyes during sleep. Have you ever looked at a dog when it is sleeping and noticed that beneath its eyelids the eyes were moving? They same thing happens to you when you are dreaming. While you are looking at things in your dreams your eyes try to follow what you are seeing in your dreams. The same thing seems to occur in dogs and other animals. The scientists were able to tell not only when Laika slept during her several days in space but also how deeply she slept and if she dreamed.

Finally everything was ready and Laika in her harness and tiny cabin was placed aboard a huge rocket for the countdown. Tre....dva....odin.... Blastoff! In November of 1957, one month after Sputnik, she was carried into orbit about Earth. Laika lived for several days after being placed in orbit showing that an animal easily could tolerate zero gravity. Finally her oxygen ran out and Laika gave her life for science. What they learned from Laika greatly helped the men who, a few years later, were to follow her into space. She was our first space explorer paving, the way for Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut, who followed in April of 1961.

Other dogs and other animals followed. Among the dogs placed in orbit by the Russians were Belka and Strelka. You might like to know that Strelka later delivered six healthy puppies, one of which was given as a gift to President Kennedy.
The United States would favor the use of monkeys and chimpanzees. The ride of chimpanzee Ham would usher in the use of the word "hamming it up". Enos would take me to a tracking site, Canton Island, in the South Pacific in preparation for our launch of John Glenn and finally the United States program was off and running.

Duane Graveline MD MPH
Former USAF Flight Surgeon
Former NASA Astronaut
Retired Family Doctor

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