They were the first living creatures to survive in outer space.
Upon their return, the two dogs became an instant sensation around the world.
It also gave the Soviets confidence to send a human into space less than a year later.
Animals have been used in flight long before humans left the planet.
Most importantly, they were easy to procure.
Most dogs that went to space were strays picked up from the street.
Belka and Strelka after their historic flight.
Only female dogs were selected because they required a much simpler design of the waste-disposal system.
A mere 18 days later, Soviet planners pressed on for another dog flight.
Belka and Strelka undergoing training.
Among the pack was Vilna and Kaplya, who were regarded the most intelligent, quick-witted and hardy.
He changed their names to Belka and Strelka.
But, by the time they got into orbit, neither of them was moving.
Then, during the 4th orbit, Belka started vomiting.
It was that which woke them both up, Southgate said.
When the capsule was opened, Belka and Strelka appeared unharmed by their experience.
They were a little sluggish at first and lost their appetite, which was explained by stress.
But everything soon returned to normal.
The trip turned them into celebrities.
Their images were printed on postcards, stamps, and posters.
They appeared on television and were feted on TV chat shows.
Belka and Strelka
Strelka and her puppies.
The dogs did not experience any long-term ill-effects from the flight.
In fact, Strelka gave birth to six healthy puppies.
Two months later, a Soviet ambassador delivered one of the puppies to an astounded Mrs. Kennedy.
She was named Pushinka.
Pushkina later gave birth to four puppies that Kennedy jokingly referred to as pupniks.
Approximately 5,000 people wrote to the White House asking if they could have a puppy.
Historian Andrew Hager has attempted to track down Pushinkas descendants but, so far, has drawn a blank.
Both dogs died of very old age.
The stuffed body of Strelka at the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.
Photo:Museum of Cosmonautics
The stuffed body of Belka at the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow.
How Belka and Strelka lived before and after the flight,Mos.ru
