Her name was…
from Gridleak
11/3/2009 8:13:47 PM
Rated:
…
Little Barker.
Little Barker was a stray found wandering the city streets, along with two other small dogs of similar stature and demeanor. Strays had been chosen because it could be fairly certain that these animals were already used to being cold… and hungry. Little Barker was an eleven-pound mongrel female, approximately three years old. She was given several names and nicknames by different people including Curly, Bug and Lemon but Little Barker would be the name that would stick.
Little Barker had been chosen to participate in an experiment like none other. She would have to be trained. Life would not be easy and to adapt her she was kept in progressively smaller cages for periods up to 20 days. The extensive close confinement caused her to stop urinating or defecating, made her restless, and caused her general condition to deteriorate. However long periods of training finally proved effective and she eventually became accustomed to her confines. During her training Little Barker was fed well. Though not Alpo, she was fed a special high-nutrition gel. One of the men responsible for her took her home once and later wrote “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."
She was confined for three days before the start of the experiment. Two men had been assigned to watch over her constantly. Conditions were brutally cold but a hose had been connected to a heater to keep her container warm. Inside the container there was no room to turn around, but she could sit, stand, or lay down and food and water were dispensed to her.
At the start of the experiment her heartbeat rose from 103 beats per minute to 240 beats per minute. After three hours it would settle back down to 102 beats per minute, although this was three times as long as it had taken to settle during training. However, though she had taken some small amount of food, Little Barkers condition began to deteriorate, and in four more hours there was no sign of life…
Little Barker had perished leaving behind two world records.
First animal in orbit.
First Orbital Death.
Fifty-two years ago today, November 3rd, 1957, Sputnik 2 launched from Russia carrying Laika, Russian for “Little Barker”. A little over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik 2 disintegrated—along with Laika's remains—during re-entry on April 14, 1958.
Gridleak
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