One small step for man's best friend: The dog space suits made for our first canine cosmonauts
- High-pressure suits protected dogs during experiments in the 1950s
- Paved the way for man's first orbit of Earth and journey to the moon
Long before man ventured into space, our canine companions were testing the water for us.
To assess the then unknown effects of low gravity and forces during launch on living things, Russian scientists made these high-pressure suits to help keep dogs safe during experiments in the 1950s.
They were strapped into what might be considered today as a rather crude contraption, put into a rocket and fired 80km to the edge of space before returning to Earth by parachute.
Like a giant boot: This space suit was among the first made for dogs for experiments on the effects of low gravity and high-speed launches on living things
To boldly go: This picture taken in 1959 shows a dog preparing for launch from a Soviet base in Central Asia
The lessons learned paved the way for Laika's mission in 1957, when she became the first animal to orbit the Earth, and subsequently the first journeys into space by humans a few years later.
Unfortunately, only a few suits have remained intact over the years.
One, a brown, lace-up suit complete with a dog's head-shaped helmet and breathing apparatus, is currently on display at the National Space Centre in Leicester.
Speaking when it first arrived at the centre in 2010, Kevin Yates, the Space Communications Manager, told the Guardian: 'At the beginning of the space race, no-one knew how the human body would respond to being in low gravity, high altitude and the forces exerted during launch.
Pioneering pooch: Laika, who became the first animal to orbit the Earth in 1957, with her handler
Final frontier: For years, it had been reported that Laika (pictured on board the Sputnik 2 satellite) survived for six days until her oxygen ran out, but in 2002 it emerged that she likely perished within hours after launch
'So animals were used to test the reactions to these. Most of the dogs did survive. There were only a couple of accidents where dogs died.'
Russian scientists chose dogs, most of them strays from the streets of Moscow, because they felt they were better able to sit still for long periods than primates.
The U.S., on the other hand, preferred chimpanzees because of their similarity to humans.
Being enclosed in these suits that effectively wrapped them up like a giant boot must have been terrifying, but Mr Yates said many of the dogs seemed quite happy after they had landed back on Earth.
Canine cosmonaut: Malyshka, a Russian space dog, poses here in its snug-fitting space suit with a transparent space helmet beside it in 1957
One giant leap for canine kind: Two Russian 'spacedogs' Veterok (left) and Ugoloik wearing their space suits shortly after they were in orbit for 22 days in 1966
He said: 'I've seen original footage of the dogs being collected when they parachute back down and they seem very excited to see their owners.'
Laika, a stray Russian dog, became the first animal to orbit the earth in November 1957 aboard the Sputnik 2 satellite, but died during the mission.
It had for years been reported that she survived for six days until her oxygen ran out, but in 2002 it emerged that she likely perished from overheating within hours after launch.
Four years later, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth aboard Vostok 1, closely followed by American Alan Shepard a month after that.