14 Facts About Laika

Laika died of hyperthermia hours into the flight, on the craft's fourth orbit.

In 2008, a small monument to Laika depicting her standing atop a rocket was unveiled near the military research facility in Moscow that prepared her flight.

Laika appears on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow.

Laika was found as a stray dog wandering the streets of Moscow.

Ten days before the launch, Vladimir Yazdovsky chose Laika to be the primary flight dog.

Laika was not sent as the primary due to Albina recently giving birth to three pups, and thus Yazdovsky thought it cruel to send Albina the primary and separate a mother from their children.

Just prior to liftoff on 3 November 1957, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Laika's fur was sponged in a weak ethanol solution and carefully groomed, while iodine was painted onto the areas where sensors would be placed to monitor her bodily functions.

At peak acceleration, Laika's respiration increased to between three and four times the pre-launch rate.

The early telemetry indicated that Laika was agitated but eating her food.

In 1999, several Russian sources reported that Laika had died when the cabin overheated on the fourth day.

In October 2002, Dimitri Malashenkov, one of the scientists behind the Sputnik2 mission, revealed that Laika had died by the fourth circuit of flight from overheating.

Laika is memorialised in the form of a statue and plaque at Star City, the Russian Cosmonaut training facility.

Stamps and envelopes picturing Laika were produced, as well as branded cigarettes and matches.

The song tells a story about the singer wishing that Laika had never died and was living happily in space.