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Author
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Topic: In Remembrance of Laika
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ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 972
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted November 02, 2007 04:06 PM
   
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Laika on her ill-fated journey aboard Sputnik II. Here's to that little street dog who unwittingly paved the way for humans to follow - a true space pioneer who will always be remembered and celebrated as probably the most famous canine in history.Colin IP: Logged |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 106
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted November 02, 2007 05:52 PM
Every time I think of her I can recapture that feeling I had when I looked for her in the night sky. IP: Logged |
randy
Member Posts: 703
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted November 02, 2007 10:54 PM
May she never be forgotten.Randy IP: Logged |
Rick Boos
Member Posts: 651
From: Celina,Ohio U.S.A.
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted November 02, 2007 11:39 PM
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R.Glueck
Member Posts: 111
From: Winterport, Maine, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted November 03, 2007 10:42 AM
Interestingly, while speaking at a conference of Soviet and U.S. teachers in 1991, I brought up the subject of little Laika, and the Russian looked at me like I was an idiot. I have to wonder if we in the west don't hold her legacy in higher esteem than do the Russians. I have a book in my library that actually credits her naming to Yuri Gagarin, which is another lionizing of the Gagarin fable.IP: Logged |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 11731
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted November 03, 2007 10:56 AM
Anatoly Zak has a new section on RussianSpaceWeb.com devoted to Sputnik 2 and Laika, in honor of the flight's 50th anniversary.IP: Logged |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 106
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted November 03, 2007 03:06 PM
That is a nice tribute page on Zak's site. Except that he includes a television camera among the equipment in Sputnik 2. IP: Logged |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 972
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted November 03, 2007 06:33 PM
Richard,That story is actually about the naming of the dog Zvezdochka, who flew on the precursory Vostok mission to Gagarin's. And depending on which book you read about the naming of that particular dog, it was either Gagarin or Titov who questioned handling staff a day or two before launch and asked what her name was. According to the story no one really knew, although they had been calling her either Dymka (Smoky) or Tuchka (Cloudy). Gagarin is said to have been disappointed in the dog having such an ordinary name on such a vital mission and, noticing a nearby worker wearing a "star of hero" badge on his jacket, came up with the name Zvezdochka (Little Star). It's a nice, comfortable little story, although like many cosmonaut-enhancing stories from that time I tend to view it with great scepticism. Colin IP: Logged |
dss65
Member Posts: 551
From: Sandpoint, ID, USA
Registered: Mar 2003
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posted November 03, 2007 09:07 PM
I suppose this is a slight departure from the subject (or perhaps not), but this string immediately reminded me of something I had read a few years ago. I own a very wonderful book titled "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke". (How I wish I could get a signed bookplate for this incredible book.) One of the many short stories in the book is titled "Dog Star", although a note below that title indicates that the story was "First published in Galaxy, April 1962, as 'Moondog'". The story is about a fictional dog named Laika. Beneath that note (but before the story), Clarke noted, "I can no longer bear to read this story, now that Laika sleeps forever in the garden of the home we once shared." I think all of us dog lovers easily understand what he meant. Rest in peace to all the Laikas of this world.------------------
Don IP: Logged |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 11731
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted November 04, 2007 09:07 AM
A few recent articles: IP: Logged |
R.Glueck
Member Posts: 111
From: Winterport, Maine, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted November 04, 2007 11:31 AM
Colin: Thanks for the neat story. Dissecting Russian space history is an art rather than a science. Nevertheless, my wife and I adopted a six year old stray yesterday, and have been agonizing over a name. I think "Laika" works just beautifully, in this 50th year of memory. Lemme see what me Mrs. has to say.IP: Logged |
Colin Anderton
Member Posts: 46
From: Great Britain
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted November 04, 2007 03:54 PM
I hope you don't think this in bad taste (I'm an animal lover too), but there was a poem around at the time of Sputnik 2 written by Alan Herbert, a humourist and rights campaigner:The Christmas stars are back again,
Orion has resumed his reign,
And Sirius, the brightest light
Is at my window every night. But foolish man has got his eye
On rubbish rushing round the sky,
On bits of rockets, parts of cones,
And, I suppose, the puppy's bones. Nor do they seem to know it all,
If rockets fizzle out or fall.
At any moment through the fog,
There may descend a bit of dog. The moon was beautiful,
They've made it dull,
I much prefer
The other side of Hull.
IP: Logged |
R.Glueck
Member Posts: 111
From: Winterport, Maine, USA
Registered: Jul 2004
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posted November 04, 2007 05:52 PM
Carole Ann agreed, so "Laika" is the dog's new name.IP: Logged |
Gilbert
Member Posts: 410
From: Carrollton, GA USA
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted November 09, 2007 12:12 PM
I read the new graphic novel "Laika" on the 50th anniversary of her flight. Although her origins are heavily fictionized, it's a great read. Laika was a true pioneer.IP: Logged |
Philip
Member Posts: 3289
From: Brussels, BELGIUM
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted November 09, 2007 01:23 PM
Well, Colin & Chris gave the animal a nice tribute on the cover of their book: Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle IP: Logged |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 11731
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted April 11, 2008 06:05 PM
RIA Novosti: Statue to pioneering Russian space dog unveiled in Moscow quote:
A bronze monument to a former street dog called Laika, which was the first living creature in space and paved the way for manned flights, was unveiled in northwest Moscow on Friday.The monument, erected a day before Russia's Cosmonautics Day celebrated on April 12, is a two-meter (6.5 feet) high space rocket with Laika proudly standing on top. ...At the unveiling ceremony the head of the Institute of military medicine, Igor Ushakov, said: "I'm looking at the monument and indeed recognize Laika. She is glancing at the house where the pre-flight preparations and training took place."
According to ITAR-TASS, the monument is "situated at the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya tree-lined walk near the State Military Medicine Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Defence Ministry."IP: Logged |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 106
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted April 11, 2008 07:02 PM
Bravo.IP: Logged |
