Sputnik 2
Published on Nov 3, 2006 at 2:41 pm.
18 Comments.
Filed under space exploration.
Early on the morning of November 3, 1957, a large R-7 missile roared to life at Site 1 of the facility that would later be known as Baikonur. Fully loaded and fueled, the R-7 missile stands nearly 100 feet tall with its payload, and is nearly a third wide at the base as it is tall. 253 tons of its 280 ton mass is in the form of its propellant: a highly refined form of kerosene and liquid oxygen. Compared with American rockets, it looks ungainly, with a central core (Block A) and four strap-on boosters. Also, unlike American staged rockets, the R-7 fires all of its engines upon liftoff. The smaller strapons then drop off when they have nearly expended their fuel, and the central core stage continues to fire. On most staged rocket designs, the first stage lifts the upper stage to altitude, where it then ignites once the first stage drops away. The way that the R-7 was designed, the central core acted as the upper stage, but it also was firing at liftoff. This is the design that you would choose if you didn’t trust the upper stage to ignite on its own without ground control.
 Designed as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7 was considerably larger that its American counterparts under development.  It was, in fact, far larger than it needed to be to achieve its stated goal of launching a nuclear warhead. This may have been due to two separate reasons. First, the R-7’s designer, Sergei Korolev seemed more interested in putting something into orbit than in tossing warheads around. From some of the things that he said, it sounds like he may have thought of delivering warheads as a waste of a perfectly good rocket. But, he was paid to build a rocket that could launch a warhead. If it could also put something into orbit, …, well that was a bonus. A second reason may have to do with typical Soviet secrecy and bureaucracy. Korolev was told to build an ICBM to launch a nuclear warhead. The mass of the warhead was classified, even to Korolev! He could only guess at how heavy it was, so he over-engineered his missile. Thus, his R-7 could lift an estimated 5 ton warhead on a ballistic trajectory, or it could put 1.5 tons into orbit.
On October 4, 1957, an R-7 missile did indeed launch a satellite into orbit: Sputnik 1. Korolev and his team had orginally planned for a massive 1.5 science satellite, but in the end settled for something very simple and lightweight as a test of the rocket. The world was shocked and amazed by Sputnik. The top Soviet hierarchy had not really appreciated the impact of orbiting a satellite until after the world reaction to Sputnik. So, the Soviet premier, Nikita Kruschev, ordered that an even grander feat be planned to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Bolshevic Revolution, less than a month away! (See my footnote at the end of this posting.)
So, Korolev hastened plans for another satellite launch. The massive science satellite still wasn’t ready, so they had to some up with something else. In only a month’s time, they designed and built (without even adequate time for testing) a capsule that was to become Sputnik 2.Â
The Sputnik 2 capsule contained a small sphere similar to the orginal Sputnik with power and electronics.  There were also some scientific instruments on board (which the original Sputnik lacked). And there was a small pressurized cylinder. Inside this cylinder, a live mixed breed dog was placed. She was named Laika (that means barker). Television cameras were placed to watch her in orbit. A mechanism was fitted to dispense pellets of food and gelatinized water. At this time, no one had devised a mechanism that would allow a satellite to survive reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Of course, only one satellite had ever been launched, and no one had really thought about needing to bring one back. One month was not long enough to come up with a heat shield. So, the tenth day’s supply of food and water contained a poison that would euthanize Laika. This is about when she’d run out of oxygen.Â
The launch went well, but a problem developed when the craft reached orbit. The Block A central core booster did not separate properly, and it tore away thermal insulation. The cylinder containing Laika became subjected to vast extremes of temperature as it orbited Earth, passing from light to shadow and back to daylight. Laika soon died of heat related ailments. The capsule eventually reentered the Earth’s atmosphere on April 14, 1958, 162 days later.
-Astroprof
(Image credit:Â Virtual Space Museum, Russian Space Web)
Footnote: The Bolshevic Revolution was October 23, 1917 under the Julian calender in use in Russia at the time, and hence is sometimes called the October Revolution, or the Red October. However, after the revolution, the newly formed Soviet Union adopted the Gregorian Calendar in use by most of the rest of the world. The date of the revolution was November 5 under the Gregorian Calendar.
A Ler…-- Rastos de Luz on November 4, 2006 at 10:31 am: 1
[…] “Sputnik 2“, no Astroprof’s Page, uma descrição desta missão. […]
vanesa on April 4, 2007 at 12:37 am: 2
hi, i just want to say that this dog its beautiful, and i didnt knew about it but it makes me feel sad, i know too many years are happen since there, but i really hope that she is ok now.
H. on April 11, 2007 at 12:02 pm: 3
Luv ya Laika
D on April 12, 2007 at 3:16 pm: 4
That story made me so sad. Dogs are loving and trusting. They’ll do anything for us, for some food and a little kind attention. It must have been terrifying for that little animal to be strapped into that capsule, sent into space on a rocket. And then have to suffer a really painful death. Rest in Peace, Laika.
Nuggi76 on June 5, 2007 at 5:54 am: 5
Oh my god..Poore little Laika. Rest in peace. Sometimes i feel ashamed of being a human
Freddy Faust on June 12, 2007 at 2:46 pm: 6
When the great creator separated man from the animals, he brought them all together in a vast plain. He drew a dividing line in the earth and had man stand on one side and, the animals stand on the other. He then separated the earth into a great divide. As the divide between the two sides expanded, so that none could cross, Dog jumped over and stood with man. Laika was and will always be a hero.
Cassie on July 4, 2007 at 10:31 pm: 7
agh, thats just terrible. Atleast she did gain the reputation as first dog in space, but I’m sure it’s not something she would give her life for.
petitechat.se » Blog Archive » Constantly Thinking About You on July 16, 2007 at 1:13 pm: 8
[…] […]
love on July 18, 2007 at 12:11 am: 9
My heart weeps when I think of poor Laika.
How could they abuse her like they did?
Why are evil acts legal when done in the name of sience?
Every living creature are sacred and should be left in peace.
Sience is no exuse for breaking this holy rule!
Astroprof on July 19, 2007 at 3:58 pm: 10
Laika wasn\’t sacrificed for science, but rather to provide a propaganda tool for the Soviet Union. The United States did not launch animals until we had a way to bring them back safely.
xander on August 3, 2007 at 5:19 pm: 11
RIP Laika :’( we humans are abomanations…
ria on August 18, 2007 at 6:34 am: 12
I feel sorry for laika….how can we, humans be so rude and selfish for sending these poor,dumb animals in such a high risk…rest in peace laika….WE ALL ARE PROUD OF U.
Andrew Otten on September 15, 2007 at 1:00 am: 13
Laika…… I’m so sorry to be a part of this horrible disease known as human. Your loyalty and trust earned you a seat in a suicide machine, and for what? Science…… F#%K SCIENCE!
You will always be remembered. x
Astroprof on September 15, 2007 at 1:14 pm: 14
First of all, Sputnik 2 had little to do with science. It was mostly a posturing of the Soviet Union to show how capable they were. The US also sent animals into space, but we did not do so until we could safely return them to Earth.
Astroprof’s Page » 50 Years Ago on October 3, 2007 at 7:03 pm: 15
[…] Sputnik-1 was not Korolev’s original choice for the first man-made object to be put into Earth orbit. He, like Wernher von Braun, had long dreamed of extending the capabilities of his rockets to launch a payload into space. As early as May 26, 1954, Korolev had made a proposal to his superiors that an R-7 missile be modified to launch a payload into orbit around Earth. The proposal languished in the Soviet bureaucracy, though, until US President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced on July 29, 1955, that the United States of America intended to launch an artificial Earth orbiting satellite sometime during the International Geophysical Year that ran from July 1, 1957, through December 31, 1958. Within about a week, Korolev’s proposal was approved. Korolev’s original plan was to construct a massive heavily instrumented craft of mass in excess of one metric ton. However, the United States was making progress with its Vanguard program, so Korolev agreed to hurriedly build a much smaller satellite as an initial test of the R-7 missile as an orbital launch vehicle. This simpler vehicle became Sputnik-1, and it was launched not much more than a month after conception. A much larger payload was launched only a month later, on November 3, 1957, as Sputnik-2, with the dog Laika aboard. Both Sputnik-1 and Sputnik-2 were primarily missions designed to show the prowess of the Soviet Union’s launch technology rather than as science missions like Korolev’s originally proposed satellite. Korolev’s original plan for an Earth-orbiting satellite finally saw form on May 15, 1958, with the launch of Sputnik-3. […]
Antonella on October 4, 2007 at 7:50 am: 16
Poor little sweet Laika. How cruel to put the poor little dog inside that cabin. Why didn’t you, scientist, go yourself in that beautiful metallic box you had created. I hate human beings.
Romea on October 4, 2007 at 12:49 pm: 17
Those sweet eyes, harmless, innocent and trustful eyes which looked at you without knowing, which looked at the cruel man/woman who had been feeding her until that moment and who was going to sacrifice her, eyes that believed in him/her. And the photo of poor Laika who is going to surf on the space is the witness that we human beings are an abominous genetical mistake which proved fatally successful, a mistake which is destroying that beautiful planet which is the earth.
Astroprof’s Page » You are go for launch! on November 8, 2007 at 6:47 pm: 18
[…] Both the United States and the Soviet Union had planned to launch a satellite during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. The Soviets got their satellite, Sputnik, off first, on October 3, 1957. I wrote about that a little over a month ago. American rocket scientists, of course, knew that the Soviets were working on a satellite program, but we didn’t know how far along they were. The American satellite program was having problems and was far behind schedule in development. Then, the Soviets surprised the world again by launching Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. […]