Space flight experimental animals. The photograph shows experimental animals from Soviet space programs that were sent into space during the 1950s and 1960s for scientific experiments.
– Dogs such as Laika, Belka and Strelka: Particularly well-known is Laika, who in 1957 became the first living creature to fly into space aboard Sputnik 2. Later, Belka and Strelka (1960) became the first animals to return alive from an orbital flight.
– Primates, mice and other animals: In addition to dogs, the Soviet Union also tested other animals to investigate the effects of weightlessness and space flight on living organisms.
These experiments provided important findings for human spaceflight and paved the way for Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in 1961.