Laika — All My Friends Are Astronauts

64 years ago today, Sputnik 2 carried a stray dog from the streets of Moscow to global fame, as the first living creature in orbit. Much of the free world was horrified by the brutalism of the Soviet state.

This poignant print hangs in my boys’ room and captures the emotional exuberance of our canine friends. It was made by Laika O’Brien from Meow Wolf (a coincidental nod to the name space of my sons, Leo and Wolf). It’s a reduction print, made from a single block of linoleum. She printed the image from lightest to darkest, and parts of the original linoleum block are carved away with each new color pass. So, she first carved out the stars then did a layer of light blue. Then carved out everything that needed to stay light blue and printed a layer of purple and so on. When the print is done, the block has effectively been destroyed, meaning that image can never be made in the same way again.

Dr Vladimir Yazdovsky, one of the scientists on the mission, later revealed in a book about the space race that he had taken Laika home to play with his children before the launch. He wrote: ‘Laika was quiet and charming. I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live.’

For a sense of the public reaction, we turn to the popular calypso song Russian Satellite, 1959:

“Murder, murder, everywhere.
I think these people should have a care.
This time it’s really out of place,
Over a thousand miles in space,
They poison the food for the puppy.
Oh Lord this is more than cruelty.
Yes, they’re trying their best,
But they making a mess
With the Russian satellite.
They should be all sent to prison
For the dog that they poison
In the Russian satellite.
Two Sputniks in the skies
Had everybody hypnotize,
But Sparrow is very sorry
For the poor little puppy
In the Russian satellite.
I agree they have speed and power,
Eighteen thousand miles an hour,
The invention is out of this world.
The Russian have the secret under control,
But they should have some sympathy”