Belka and Strelka facts for kids
Belka (meaning "Squirrel") and Strelka (meaning "Little Arrow") were two brave dogs from the Soviet Union. They made history on August 19, 1960, when they became the first living creatures from Earth to travel into outer space and safely return home. They spent a whole day orbiting our planet aboard a spacecraft called Korabl-Sputnik 2, also known as Sputnik 5.
Belka and Strelka were not alone on their amazing journey. They shared their spacecraft with 42 mice, a grey rabbit, two rats, some flies, and various plants and fungi. Amazingly, all of them survived the trip! The spacecraft orbited Earth 17 times and stayed in space for 27 hours. This mission was very important because it showed that living beings could survive the harsh conditions of space.
The main goal of this space mission was to study how living things react to being in space, especially to zero gravity. Scientists wanted to make sure it was safe for humans to travel to space in the future.
Strelka's Famous Puppies
After her incredible space journey, Strelka had six puppies with a male dog named Pushok. Pushok had been part of many space-related experiments on the ground, but he never went into space himself.
One of Strelka's puppies was named Pushinka (meaning "Fluffy"). In 1961, Pushinka was given as a special gift to the American President John F. Kennedy by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. President Kennedy had a dog named Charlie, and Charlie and Pushinka had four puppies together. President Kennedy jokingly called these puppies pupniks, combining "puppy" with "Sputnik."
Two of these puppies, named Butterfly and Streaker, were given to children in the Midwest of the United States. The other two, White Tips and Blackie, stayed with the Kennedy family for a while before being given to family friends. Even as recently as 2015, descendants of Pushinka were still alive! You can see a photo of some of these "Space Dog" descendants at the Zvezda Museum near Moscow.
Belka and Strelka in Pop Culture
The story of Belka and Strelka is so inspiring that it was even turned into a movie! In 2010, a Russian animated film called Belka and Strelka: Star Dogs was released. It tells the exciting tale of their adventure in space.
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