Leica, the Space Dog

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LEICA, THE SPACE DOG

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik II into space on November 3, 1957, there was one sole passenger aboard. Leica (also transliterated as Laika), a German Shepherd, orbited the Earth for seven days aboard the spacecraft. Scientists believed that by monitoring Leica, they could learn about radiation and weightlessness on animals in space.

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