I was found as a stray wandering the streets of Moscow. Originally named Kudryavka, I was renamed Laika after my breed type. After undergoing training with two other dogs, I was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 and was launched into space on 3 November 1957.
I died a only few hours after launch from stress and overheating.
My body circled the Earth for 162 days before burning up in the atmosphere on April 14, 1958. To anyone watching the sky at that time, I was a tiny falling star in the night.
