What type of animal was Laika, who was the first living animal to orbit the Earth in Sputnik 2, launched by Russia?
Sputnik 2 Sputnik 2 Sputnik 2 (, , "Satellite 2"), or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 (PS-2, , "Elementary Satellite 2") was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on 3 November 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a Soviet space dog named Laika, who died a few hours after the launch. Launched by the U.S.S.R., Sputnik 2 was a 4-meter (13 foot) high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters (6.6 feet) that weighed around 500 kg, though it was not designed to separate from the rocket core that brought it to orbit, bringing the total mass in
Sputnik 2 for the PS-2 satellite launch was designated 8k71PS. Unlike Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2 was not designed to detach from the R-7 sustainer core, since Sputnik 1's core stage had demonstrated an acceptable orbital lifespan. This allowed the core's Tral D telemetry system to be used to transmit data, but would lead to speculation that Sputnik 2 had failed to separate. After Sputnik 2 reached orbit, the interior temperature rapidly climbed to over 40 °C (100 °F), and Laika survived for only a few hours instead of the planned ten days. The first living creature (larger than a microbe) to enter