Remembering Belka and Strelka

By some definitions, you could say that spaceflight began 50 years ago today.
On August 19, 1960, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 5 capsule containing 40 mice, two rats, a rabbit, some fruit flies, plants—and a pair of dogs, Belka (”Whitey”) and Strelka (”Little Arrow.”) They were the first living creatures to go into orbit [...]

Belka during the Sputnik 5 flight.
By some definitions, you could say that spaceflight began 50 years ago today.
On August 19, 1960, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 5 capsule containing 40 mice, two rats, a rabbit, some fruit flies, plants—and a pair of dogs, Belka (”Whitey”) and Strelka (”Little Arrow.”) They were the first living creatures to go into orbit and return safely. And they gave the Soviets confidence to send a human into space less than a year later.
You can see contemporary footage of the space dogs here, and a 2005 BBC dramatization of the Sputnik 5 launch (and a failed precursor), with a cranky Sergey Korolev overseeing the launch.
According to Chris Dubbs, author of Space Dogs: Pioneers of Space Travel, Russian space doctors were at first alarmed when TV transmissions from the Sputnik 5 capsule showed neither ...