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OPROSTI LAJKA

Birali smo samo ženke jer one ne trebaju dignuti nogu dok uriniraju, što znači da im treba manje prostora nego mužjacima. A lutalice smo birali jer ih bilo više i bile su manje zahtjevne«, kaže Kotovska.

Zamolila sam je da mi oprosti, pomazila je zadnji put i zaplakala, kaže 90-godišnja ruska biologinja Adilja Kotovska prisjećajući se dana kada je mješanka Lajka postala prva životinja u svemiru.

Sovjetski Savez lansirao je Lajku u svemir u satelitu Sputnjik 2 prije 60 godina, 3. studenoga 1957. Samo mjesec prije SSSR je u svemir poslao prvi satelit uopće, Sputnjik 1.

Lajka je u letjelici preživjela nekoliko sati, obletjevši Zemlju prije toga devet puta.



»Tih devet kruženja oko Zemlje učinilo je Lajku prvim svjetskim kozmonautom. Žrtvovana je zbog uspjeha budućih svemirskih misija«, kaže Kotovska, ponosna na svoju pionirsku ulogu u radu s prvim životinjama u svemiru.

Kako bi se psi prilagodili putovanju u kapsuli dugoj samo 80 centimetara, Kotovska ih je postupno premještala u sve manje kaveze.

Pseći kandidati provodili su vrijeme u centrifugi, simulatoru gravitacijskih sila koje se stvore u trenutku lansiranja, a izlagalo ih se i sličnim razinama buke.

Lajka je bila mješanka, pronađena na ulici u Moskvi, stara oko tri godine i teška šest kilograma.

Let bez povratka

»Birali smo samo ženke jer one ne trebaju dignuti nogu dok uriniraju, što znači da im treba manje prostora nego mužjacima. A lutalice smo birali jer ih bilo više i bile su manje zahtjevne«, kaže Kotovska.

Psi su zbog publiciteta trebali biti fotogenični i davala su im se pamtljiva imena. Lajkino ime, naravno, dolazi od ‘lajanja’. Ona je izabrana za prvi let jer je bila pametna i poslušna.

Naravno da smo znali da će uginuti na letu, jer u ono doba nije bilo načina da je vratimo natrag«, rekla je Kotovska.

Sputnjik 2 lansiran je u 5.30 ujutro po moskovskom vremenu iz Kazahstana, mjesta na kojem će se kasnije razviti kozomodrom Bajkonur.

»Isprva je sve bilo u redu. Naravno, tijekom lansiranja Lajkino srce jako je ubrzalo, ali nakon tri sata puls se vratio u normalu«, priča Kotovska.

Iznenada, tijekom devetog kruženja oko Zemlje, temperatura u kapsuli počela je rasti i dosegla je 40 stupnjeva Celzija. Izolacija od Sunčevih zraka nije bila dovoljno dobra. Znanstvenici su se nadali kako bi Lajka mogla preživjeti osam do deset dana, ali uginula je od dehidracije nakon nekoliko sati.

Sovjetski radio je bez obzira na to danima izvještavao kako je Lajka dobro. Službena verzija je glasila da je Lajka uginula od otrova koji joj je podmetnut u hranu kako bi je se poštedjelo bolne smrti pri povratku u Zemljinu atmosferu. Moskva se te izmišljotine držala još godinama.

Satelit s Lajkinim ostacima izgorio je u atmosferi pet mjeseci kasnije, 14. travnja 1958., negdje iznad Antila.

Jedan od vodećih znanstvenika koji je radio na toj misiji, Oleg Gazenko, na tiskovnoj konferenciji koncem 90-ih godina, izrazio je žaljenje zbog Lajkine smrti. »Što više vremena prolazi, više mi je žao. Nismo to trebali napraviti. Od tog leta nismo naučili dovoljno da bi opravdali smrt psa«.

Prve životinje koje su lansirane u svemir i vratile se žive bile su mješanke Belka i Strelka u satelitu Sputnjik 5, u kolovozu 1960.





SORRY LAJKA

We chose only females because they don't need to lift their leg while urinating, which means they need less space than males. And we chose strays because there were more of them and they were less demanding," says Kotovska.

I asked her to forgive me, she stroked me one last time and cried, says 90-year-old Russian biologist Adilja Kotovska, recalling the day when the mixed-breed Laika became the first animal in space.

The Soviet Union launched Laika into space in the Sputnik 2 satellite 60 years ago, on November 3, 1957. Just a month before, the USSR had sent the first ever satellite into space, Sputnik 1.

Lajka survived in the spacecraft for several hours, having circled the Earth nine times before that.



»Those nine orbits around the Earth made Laika the world's first cosmonaut. It was sacrificed for the success of future space missions," says Kotovska, proud of her pioneering role in working with the first animals in space.

In order for the dogs to adapt to traveling in a capsule only 80 centimeters long, Kotovska gradually moved them into smaller and smaller cages.

The canine candidates spent time in a centrifuge, a simulator of the gravitational forces created at launch, and were exposed to similar noise levels.

Lajka was a mixed breed, found on the street in Moscow, about three years old and weighing six kilograms.

No return flight

We chose only females because they don't need to lift their leg while urinating, which means they need less space than males. And we chose strays because there were more of them and they were less demanding," says Kotovska.

The dogs had to be photogenic for the sake of publicity and were given memorable names. Lajka's name, of course, comes from 'barking'. She was chosen for the first flight because she was smart and obedient.

"Of course we knew she would die on the flight, because at that time there was no way to bring her back," said Kotovska.

Sputnik 2 was launched at 5:30 a.m. Moscow time from Kazakhstan, where the Baikonur Cosmodrome would later be developed.

"At first everything was fine. Of course, during the launch, Lajka's heart sped up a lot, but after three hours, her heart rate returned to normal," says Kotovska.

Suddenly, during the ninth orbit around the Earth, the temperature in the capsule began to rise and reached 40 degrees Celsius. The insulation from the sun's rays was not good enough. Scientists hoped that Lajka could survive for eight to ten days, but she died of dehydration after a few hours.

Regardless, Soviet radio reported for days that Lajka was fine. The official version was that Lajka died from poison that was planted in her food in order to spare her a painful death when returning to the Earth's atmosphere. Moscow clung to that fabrication for years.

The satellite with Laika's remains burned up in the atmosphere five months later, on April 14, 1958, somewhere over the Antilles.

One of the leading scientists who worked on that mission, Oleg Gazenko, expressed regret at Laika's death at a press conference in the late 1990s. »The more time passes, the more sorry I am. We shouldn't have done that. Since that flight, we haven't learned enough to justify the dog's death."

The first animals to be launched into space and returned alive were Belka and Strelka crossbreeds in the Sputnik 5 satellite in August 1960.