First animal in space! Brave stray dog whose 1957 space mission made history and never returned
Laika, a stray dog from Moscow, became the first living creature to orbit Earth aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. Her one-way mission, intended to gather data on life in space, tragically ended within hours due to overheating. Despite her sacrifice, the vital information gathered paved the way for future human space missions. 
