Adeli suit life form – before sending a human to space - were undertaken by both, particularly with some dogs by the Soviets and chimps by the US (dogs Laika in November 1957 and then Belka and Strelka on Russian Sputnik 5 in August 1960 and Ham the Chimp or Enos the chimp in January and November 1961, respectively, on US Mercury capsules. The Soviets were generally ahead of the US until the late 1960s (first satellite, first animal in space, first lunar flyby, first human object to reach lunar surface, first pictures of the far side of the moon, first human
Vostok programme other biological specimens such as mice, insects, and strips of human skin. This mission was successful, and Belka and Strelka became the first living beings recovered from orbit. The spacecraft was only the second object ever to have been recovered from orbit, the first being the return capsule of the American Discoverer 13 the previous week. During the mission there was some concern for Belka and Strelka's health, after images of Belka vomiting had been obtained from the onboard cameras. The spacecraft and dogs were recovered following the 26-hour spaceflight, and extensive physiological tests revealed that the dogs were in