[ Photo: google img ]

Disclaimer: The Russian's did this in 57 and I do not endorse such experiments which involves animals. So hello SPCA.

On November 3, 1957, the Russians were preparing for the launch of the Sputnik-II. This was different from the earlier Sputnik-I which they had sent a month earlier. While the first one made history by being the first man-made satellite into space, the second one was even more historic. Sputnik-II, for the first time ever, would be sending a living being into space. A dog named Laika.

If you ask why a dog? I would say, maybe human life was too precious to waste on an experiment with no known precedence, which made failure likely. And a dog, back in the day, was just a dog!

Those were the heady days of the cold war, and superpowers were in a race to conquer space. This race did open up technologies which gave the world a future to look forward to. But in this race was sacrificed a living being, a creature of this earth. A dog who once again rose up to a challenge, and proved that she was indeed, mans best friend.

[ Photo: news.bbc.co.uk ]

So on the 3rd of November, 1957, Laika became the first living being to leave the earths atmosphere. Unfortunately, the satellite was never recovered and so she ended up becoming sacrificed for the sake of research. She is said to have died painlessly in orbit, a week after take off, and she is still up there in space today.

And some times this gives me inspiration when I feel down and out. I close my eyes and float the vastness that is space. I put myself into Laika's body and float aimlessly, and marvel at the beauty of the universe. I become Laika, and I feel better. I feel liberated and unshackled, unlike how I feel in the modern world, where I am under constant scrutiny and obeying laws I did not agree to.

And this makes me think that if we, the earthlings, are all part of this universe, then why are we not free?
Like the dog in space, Laika.