Squirrel and Arrow: flying into space animals

Nothing so disturbs consciousness as the thought of infinity and freedom. Probably, you can feel such sensations, being in space, looking at the Earth from height. However, the first traveler who went into orbit was not a man at all, but his best friend was a dog.

The opening of the space age

Today even students know who Belka and Strelka are. The flight into space of these animals became a sensation and the beginning of incredible discoveries. However, it all started with the usual dream. The desire of man to understand his nature, to look at life through the eyes of the gods - all this constantly pushes scientists to new discoveries and steadily develops technologies.

The beginning of the space era was laid in the fifties of the last century. When humanity has mastered the heavenly space with might and main and decided to encroach on something more. The story of flying into space Squirrels and Arrows are just an introduction to something more significant and incredible.

The struggle of superpowers

The rivalry between America and Russia has been going on for many decades. And the moment of acquaintance with the cosmos became one of the points of this long struggle.

The US government never concealed its intentions first to conquer the vast expanses of space. Moreover, they actively popularized this idea among the population. They complained and prepared the inhabitants for a sensational historical step.

Even journalists who constantly doubted and checked all the information provided, believed in a positive outcome of the events. Everyone was ready to celebrate the victory, but in this race the first to finish was a completely different state. The Soviet Union not only carried out the flight of the Squirrels and Arrows into space, but also the first to send an artificial Earth satellite into orbit .

When a year later, in 1958, the Americans were still able to bring into orbit the Explorer-1, people could not forgive the deception and began to call the satellite a comic nickname "orange".

For the first time having received a satellite signal from space, humanity realized that its expanses can be conquered, studied, understood. This was a new step in the history of people.

To whom the choice falls

The first launches of rockets with living creatures began with dogs: this was the famous flight of Squirrels and Arrows into space. The brief content of this story is familiar to everyone practically from childhood. However, the competitive moment was also present to some extent here, which is often overlooked.

Which animal is more suitable for such a responsible trip? Naturally, the first thing to pay attention to primates. They, like no other, are like people. But the monkeys were more sensitive, perhaps because of a more developed self-awareness. They felt something was wrong and put up extreme resistance.

Americans were able to achieve the necessary only with the help of injections of sleeping pills. Soviet scientists found this practice unacceptable and were afraid of wrong results. And the choice fell on the dogs.

That's when the story of the training of four-footed began, among which were Belka and Strelka. The flight into space of dogs was carefully planned. They passed a series of tests and inspections.

Living creature outside the Earth

Unfortunately, the first dog, who had known zero gravity, could not return to his native land. But he opened the way for others, made possible the safe flight of dogs into space: Squirrels and Arrows.

It's hard to believe, but then few scientists believed that you can survive in the absence of attraction. There was an opinion that in a zero-gravity a living organism dies. That's why the first missile, sent with a dog named Laika, was a one-way transport.

No one took care of the development of the means that would help to return to Earth. Yes, and the flight itself was to answer the question "do you need such inventions?".

But as time showed, the dog survived and had a good flight. This was one of the most important steps. Now it's time to send a team that could come back and become a living confirmation of the possibility of being in space.

Victims in the name of science

Laika was not the only dead dog during the long process of mastering outer space. But only she was sent to destruction deliberately. Others became victims of unsuccessful rocket launch experiments. Technical development in this area was just beginning, and it was simply impossible to take into account all the details. Four-footed friends perished in the catastrophes associated with the failure of rockets.

But each such tragedy showed weaknesses, delineated mistakes. Subsequently, all this saved the life of man. Scientists on time corrected their mistakes, modified the settings and once all the same they achieved a positive result. Now the first flight of the squirrels of Squirrels and Arrows into space was just around the corner.

And it became possible thanks to Mishka, Chizhik, Ryzhik, Bulba, Lisa, Palma, Gun and Button, whose names rarely emerge in tales of space conquest.

It should be noted that scientists treated dogs very kindly and with love. Every death of a pet was hard to endure. In life, they were carefully cared for and created better conditions.

Careful preparation

The natural question of each person who is studying the first flight into space: "Squirrel and Arrow as were chosen?" Where did all the subjects come from?

The answer is quite simple. All four-legged friends had previously been homeless street dogs. Survival in a harsh environment in a certain way tempered their character, made more enduring.

In addition, strict specifications of physical standards were put forward. First, the mongrels should have been small. Because the capsule could not accommodate large specimens. We selected individuals not more than 35 cm tall, each weighing about six kilograms.

An interesting fact is that all twelve applicants who were trained were exclusively females. Why? The answer is rather prosaic. Designing a toilet for them is much easier than for males.

Secondly, all the dogs were light-wooled, in order for them to stand out better on black and white monitors. But the aesthetic external data is not forgotten. After all, every applicant could become a celebrity whose photos the entire world will see.

What's in your name

A little digging into the depths of history, you can find out that the flight of Squirrels and Arrowheads into space was actually performed by the Marquis and Albina. But these are not other dogs, but the same.

The fact is that the person who oversaw the project, considered the names of Albin and the Marquis unsuitable for Soviet heroes. Too strong foreign shade, they carried in themselves. That is why the dogs were given other names, more Soviet, understandable to every common man.

Passing all the stages of training, training, they were ready - Belka and Arrow. The flight into space changed not only their future, but ours.

Time Spent in Space

Finally, all preparations were completed. However, the first pair of dogs, selected as the best team, tragically died during the start, the stage failed and the rocket crashed.

That's why the Squirrels and the Riflemen flew into space. The date of this event is August 19, 1960.

To the body of the animals, special sensors were connected, which fixed all the vital processes and the body's reactions to being in zero gravity. Information came to Earth, and scientists quickly processed all the data.

Thanks to this trip, science received a lot of new information, which I did not know about before. Results of physical, biochemical and even genetic state were obtained.

Now it became clear that you can survive in space. So, the flight of man is not far off.

How did the Squirrel and Arrow move the space flight? In principle, it is quite staunch. Only on the fourth turn, the behavior of one of them changed. The squirrel became nervous, barked, trying to break out of the fastenings. But after her return, her condition returned to normal.

Amazing coincidence

It was not without curiosities that the first flight into space. Squirrel and Arrow were pretty surprised by the observers. The matter is that at the same time the US satellite was in orbit. His trajectory ran above the rocket with the dogs. But on one of the turns they were close enough to each other. Dogs seemed to sense the presence of a competitor and burst into loud barking, which stopped as soon as the missile had retired from the satellite.

The most famous dogs

1960 - the year of the flight of Squirrels and Arrows into space. This event changed the lives of many people and, of course, the fate of the dogs themselves.

Returning to Earth, they became famous throughout the world. Their photos were printed by all the most famous publications.

The next day they took part in a press conference where journalists from all over the world arrived. After all, this event concerned every person, everyone wanted to get maximum information.

After the hype subsided, the dog's life returned to normal. They were provided with everything necessary for a full-fledged existence. Dogs were taken to kindergartens, shelters, schools and introduced children to them. These animals loved the whole world. Soviet children looked at them with a smile and pride.

Dogs lived to a very old age, and Strelka even pleased everyone with young offspring. She had six puppies. One of them Khrushchev gave the daughter of President Kennedy.

Who knows what thoughts the Pushkin had from the head of America. Perhaps this has become a constant reminder of the lost leadership positions in space exploration. And maybe, on the contrary, served as an additional stimulus.

The space age is declared open

So you found out what the flight of Squirrels and Arrows into space was like. A brief history can hardly convey all the feelings that lived in the hearts of scientists, rulers and ordinary people.

But this event for ages is imprinted in history as the first step that allowed us to open outer space for man. And all thanks to our lesser brothers.

Before the flight of Yuri Gagarin four more trips were made by dogs. The name of one of them was given by himself - Zvezdochka. She returned from the flight in late March 1961. And on April 12 the first man went on an unforgettable journey.

Surprisingly, the dog has been considered a friend and a helper of man since ancient times. And in such a crucial and important moment of development, she was close.