Strelka and
Belka
On August 19th
1960 the first creatures safely returned to Earth after being sent into space.
On board
Sputnik 5 were two dogs Belka (which means Whitey) and Strelka (Arrow) and there was also one grey rabbit, 42 mice, 2
rats and some flies that went up with them, all of which survived the mission
too. However it was Belka and Strelka that
had the most publicity.
Both dogs
were strays, both were female, Strelka would later have puppies and one Pushinka
(Fluffy) was given to Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s daughter. This was of course at
the height of the cold war.
Their
mission paved the way for Yuri Gagarin in 1961 to become the first person to go
into space.
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