A view of Laika, Nov. 5, 1957, the female dog that Russian officials say is riding into outer space as a passenger aboard Sputnik II. (AP Photo/NASA)
Since there was no way to design a re-entry vehicle in time for the launch, the flight meant a certain death.
After the Soviet collapse, participants in the project told the real story: Laika indeed was to be euthanized with a programmed injection, but she apparently died of overheating after only a few hours in orbit.
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