Bonus Quiz

Who flew into space with Strelka?

Belka (literally, "Squirrel" or alternatively "Whitey") and Strelka ("Little Arrow") spent a day in space aboard Korabl-Sputnik 2 (Sputnik 5) on 19 August 1960 before safely returning to Earth.

They were accompanied by a grey rabbit, 42 mice, two rats, flies and several plants and fungi. All passengers survived. They were the first Earth-born creatures to go into orbit and return alive.

Strelka went on to have six puppies with a male dog named Pushok who participated in many ground-based space experiments, but never made it into space.

One of the pups was named Pushinka ("Fluffy") and was presented to President John F. Kennedy by Nikita Khrushchev in 1961. A Cold War romance bloomed between Pushinka and a Kennedy dog named Charlie, resulting in the birth of four pups that JFK referred to jokingly as pupniks.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

13 Comments

Richard G Schwartz

Glad they didn't end up like that poor dog that burned to death in 1957.

Player

Pupniks was a good word for them.

Stephen W. Gerrard

You would have had me if Laika had been one of the choices!

earlepg

Had to consult with "majority" and, of course, my top two choices looked like they tied, so I still had to pick whether or not to go with the rhyme.

coralnavon

Carroll Price, that is true yet it is horrifying. Those so called German scientists had experimented on human "guinea pigs" - prisoners in the camps, who usually did not survive.

Chrissie

Irma Rivera, Laika was sent into space alone - and did not return, although that is not part of this question.

Wyla Reedy

Glad they rhymed.

Chris Baz

Poor dogs. that is so cruel 😡

Carroll Price

Give credit to Germany and German scientist for rocket technology and space exploration of space. Compared to Germany in the 1930s ad 40s, both Russia, and the US were in the Dark Ages, with any success being due to captured Geman scientist and documents, with the same true for the chemical industry.