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
Marek Belka Belka joined the new liberal Democratic Party - demokraci.pl in May 2005, but failed to win a seat in Łódź in the 2005 elections. Also in 2005, he was a candidate for the post of OECD Secretary General, but lost to José Ángel Gurría. From 2006 to 2008, Belka served as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe(ECE). In 2007, Belka was proposed by Poland as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the European Union (EU) finally decided to advance former French minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn's candidacy. On 15 July 2008, Strauss-Kahn named Belka as Director