Soviet space dogs We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog...". Belka (Белка, literally, "Squirrel" or alternatively "Whitey") and Strelka (Стрелка, "Little Arrow") spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) on 19 August 1960 before safely returning to Earth. They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 42 mice, two rats, flies and several plants and fungi. All passengers survived. They were the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive.Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never
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