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Searching for details: The author of this page will greatly appreciate comments, eyewitness accounts, historic documents and imagery related to the subject. Please contact Anatoly Zak.
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Previous chapter: Preparing Sputnik-2 for flight
Above: Sputnik-2 orbits Earth. The launch vehicle designated 8K71PS No. M1-2PS lifted off on Nov. 3, 1957, at 05:30:42 Moscow Time, according to one source (51) and at 07:22 Moscow Time, according to the other. (52) The command to shut down engines of the rocket's core stage was issued, as soon the main engine run out of oxidizer. At that moment, the vehicle was flying 7,945.3 meters per second, with the angle 0.12 degrees toward local horizon. The Sputnik-2 successfully reached 225 by 1,671-kilometer orbit with an inclination 65.3 degrees toward the Equator. (227) During initial two orbits, Soviet ground controllers used optical and radio equipment to track the second satellite, producing less than accurate results. During the third orbit, controllers managed to improve tracking drastically, apparently with the help of the theodolite data from a US ground station in Perth, Australia. The information was reportedly intercepted by the Chinese and then transferred to the Soviets. (262) As telemetry later revealed Laika's heart was beating 260 cycles per minute, or three times higher than normal during her ride to orbit. Frequency of her breath also rose 4-5 times above usual. The dog was probably terrified by the roar of the engines below and violent shaking of the cabin on its way up. Overall, however, Laika survived the launch unscathed. (248) Initially, Soviet publications claimed that dog lived in orbit for a week. Decades later, several Russian sources revealed that Laika survived in orbit for four days and then died when the cabin overheated. According to other sources, severe overheating and the death of the dog occurred only five-six hours into the mission. (248, 261) Six days after the launch, on November 10, 1957, Sputnik-2 exhausted its batteries and ceased transmitting data. With all systems dead, the spacecraft continued circling the Earth until April 14, 1958, when it reentered the atmosphere after 2,570 orbits (2,370 orbits according to other sources (2, 248) or 162 days in space. (227) Many people reportedly saw a fiery trail of Sputnik-2, as it flew over New York and reached the Amazon region in just 10 minutes during its reentry. (517) Next chapter: Aftermath of the Sputnik-2 mission Written by Anatoly Zak. All rights reserved. Last update: September 16, 2011 |
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Sputnik-2 enters orbit. Watch animation: Streaming QuickTime. Copyright © 2007 Anatoly Zak
The second Soviet satellite lifts off from Baikonur on Nov. 3, 1957, at 05:30 Moscow Time (it was 07:30 in the morning local time) Credit: RKK Energia
According to some sources, this image sequence shows Laika during her no-return mission. However, more likely, these images were received from a later mission of the test version of the Vostok spacecraft, also known as Korabl-Sputnik 2. |
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