Sputnik 2 facts for kids
| Mission type | Bioscience |
|---|---|
| Operator | OKB-1 |
| Harvard designation | 1957 Beta 1 |
| Mission duration | 162 days |
| Orbits completed | 2570 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | OKB-1 |
| Launch mass | 508.3 kilograms (1,121 lb) (payload only) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | November 3, 1957, 02:30:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Sputnik 8K71PS |
| Launch site | Baikonur 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | April 14, 1958 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 7,306 kilometres (4,540 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0990965 |
| Perigee | 211 kilometres (131 mi) |
| Apogee | 1,659 kilometres (1,031 mi) |
| Inclination | 65.3 degrees |
| Period | 103.73 minutes |
| Epoch | 3 November 1957 |
Sputnik 2 was a Soviet Union spacecraft. It was the second spacecraft in the Sputnik programme. It was the first spacecraft to carry a living animal, a dog called Laika. It was launched on 3 October 1957 at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Scientists think that Laika died several hours after launch from overheating. The spacecraft went into orbit around Earth for roughly five months. It went down into Earth's atmosphere on 14 April 1958 and burned up.
Sputnik 2 was 4 metres (13 feet) high and its base diameter was 2 metres (6.6 feet). It was a cone-shaped and it had several different places for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit, a regeneration and temperature control system for the spacecraft, and scientific instruments. Laika was put in a special area.
Related pages
Images for kids
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USSR postage stamp "Спутник-2"
See also
In Spanish: Sputnik 2 para niños
