Soviet space dogs after their rocket exploded 28.5 seconds into the launch on 28 July 1960. Bars was also known as Chayka (Чайка, "Seagull"). Other dogs that flew on sub-orbital flights include Dymka (Дымка, "Smoky"), Modnitsa (Модница, "Fashionable") and Kozyavka (Козявка, "Little Gnat"). At least four other dogs flew in September 1951, and two or more were lost. Laika (Лайка, "Barker") became the first living Earth-born creature (other than microbes) in orbit, aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3rd, 1957. Some call her the first living passenger to go into space, but many sub-orbital flights with animal passengers passed the edge of space first.
Korabl-Sputnik 2 orbit by a Swedish radio station. The spacecraft carried two dogs, Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants, as well as a television camera, which took images of the dogs. One of its objectives was to intercept the US Echo 1A satellite, which was a passive, nitrogen-filled balloon covered in reflective foil and thus highly visible as it passed overhead. Korabl-Sputnik 2 passed near Echo on the second orbit, and the radio system returned audio of the dogs barking as they saw it out the window. The spacecraft returned to Earth at 06:00:00 UTC on