November 16, 1957
THE END OF LAIKA: London, 15 – According to telegrams from Moscow, scientists were quoted as saying that the dog Laika had died on the Soviet satellite Sputnik 2 due to a lack of oxygen when the craft’s air-supply system failed. The exact time of death of the canine was not ascertained and will be known later when all the signals emitted by the satellite have been decoded. A Russian professor said that the dog’s condition had been satisfactory throughout the experiment, having survived the takeoff and zero gravity. Before being shot into space, Laika had been trained to live within a hermetically sealed container under conditions similar to those he would experience during the flight and had successfully participated in the experiments over a period of weeks. The professor also said that one of the satellites expected to be launched soon will be able to orbit the Earth and the Moon. He did not want to say when more animals would be used, saying only that they would be used before humans were put at risk. DULLES: London, 13 – In Washington DC, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said the American people might have to deny themselves small freedoms if they want to rise to the Soviet Union’s scientific challenge.
