The John Batchelor Show

Sunday 27 March 2016

Air Date: 
March 27, 2016

Photo, left:  Hungarian stamp from 2007 with Laika; text reads, Sputnik 1 Oct. 4 1957. Sputnik 2 Nov.3 1957.
Laika (Russian: Лайка; c. 1954 – November 3, 1957) was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957.
 
Little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, and therefore Laika's survival was not expected. Some scientists believed humans would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so engineers viewed flights by animals as a necessary precursor to human missions. The experiment aimed to prove that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.
Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of her death were not made public until 2002; instead, it was widely reported that she died when her oxygen ran out on day six or, as the Soviet government initially claimed, she was euthanised prior to oxygen depletion.
On April 11, 2008, Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika. A small monument in her honour was built near the military research facility in Moscow that had prepared Laika's flight to space. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket. She also appears on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow.
Incidentally, Laika refers to a type of hunting dog of Northern Russia and Russian Siberia, and is a generic name for several breeds, often similar to an Alaskan husky with strong lupine characteristics.  Russian publications suggest that the term West Siberian Laika loosely applied to hunting dogs originating with the Mansi and Khanty people in Urals and West Siberia.  The Russian word laika (Russian: лайка) is a noun derived from the verb layat' (Russian: лаять, to bark), and literally means barker.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW 
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 1, Block A:  American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt, by John Beckman (1 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt, by John Beckman (2 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt, by John Beckman (3 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  American Fun: Four Centuries of Joyous Revolt, by John Beckman (4 of 4)
 
Hour Two
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer and the African Adventure the Victorian World by Storm, by Monte Reel (1 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer and the African Adventure the Victorian World by Storm, by Monte Reel (2 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:  Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer and the African Adventure the Victorian World by Storm, by Monte Reel (3 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 2, Block D:  Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer and the African Adventure the Victorian World by Storm, by Monte Reel (4 of 4)
 
Hour Three
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, A Man Who Turned Disaster into Destiny, by Sarah S. Kilborne (1 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, A Man Who Turned Disaster into Destiny, by Sarah S. Kilborne (2 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, A Man Who Turned Disaster into Destiny, by Sarah S. Kilborne (3 of 4)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 3, Block D: American Phoenix: The Remarkable Story of William Skinner, A Man Who Turned Disaster into Destiny, by Sarah S. Kilborne (4 of 4)
 
Hour Four
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957–1962, by Megan Prelinger (1 of 2)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957–1962, by Megan Prelinger (2 of 2)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 4, Block C:  The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements, by David Berlinski (1 of 2)
Sunday 27 March 2016 / Hour 4, Block D:  The King of Infinite Space: Euclid and His Elements, by David Berlinski (2 of 2)