On this date in 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft to orbit Earth, carrying Laika, a dog who was the first living animal to enter space. Laika was outfitted with monitors to study the effects of spaceflight but they failed some time after the fourth orbit. At the time, the USSR claimed that Laika survived for a week in orbit, but later revealed that she likely died after just a few hours due to overheating.
