Space flight experimental animals. The photo 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: Laika is particularly well-known, having become the first living creature to travel into space with Sputnik 2 in 1957. 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 spaceflight on living organisms.
These experiments provided important insights for human spaceflight and paved the way for Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in 1961.