Although this really doesn't belong as an entry in my blog, in a way it does as Laika and other animals contributed to exploring and recognizing our space in the cosmos . It also refers to the title of the blog.
from WIRED :
Space Dogs uses archival footage to tell the story of the clever, docile, and doomed Moscow street dog Laika, the first mammal to go into orbit—and the first mammal to die there. In 1957, the Soviet Union sent Laika to space in the satellite Sputnik 2. Despite initial assurances to the public that the pup would come back unharmed, she was always intended as a sacrifice to scientific progress, as there was no way to return her to Earth at the time. For years, the party line from officials was that Laika had been humanely euthanized before the satellite reentered the atmosphere. In reality, she lasted less than a day before heat and stress killed her, turning the object of cosmic progress into her small coffin. The film doesn’t have footage of Laika suffering in space (thank God) but it does have plenty of clips of scientists putting Laika and a few other research dogs through a barrage of exercises—they spin in a centrifuge, dazed—and subjecting them to invasive, gruesome surgeries in order to rig them up with the necessary sensors to see how long they’d last alone above the planet’s atmosphere.
It is not a pleasant viewing experience. In fact, if I had to imagine the film I would least like to be forced to watch, Clockwork Orange-style, with my eyes pried open, it might be this one. It is a stylish and honest film—a rare combination!—but also merciless
Space Dogs from Icarus Films on Vimeo.
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