August 19

On the 19th in 1960 The Soviet Union, continuing their efforts to develop a manned space station, launched Sputnik 2, which had on board two dogs, named Belka and Strelka, into orbit. Also on board were 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. In a stunning example of species discrimination, the mice, rats and plants were not given names. The Soviet Union had been sending dogs into space since July 1951 and most of them survived. Belka and Stelka were probably the least embarrassing names. With the exception of the one dog named Lisa, the others dogs were probably extremely embarrassed by the names they were given. How would you feel if you were named Dezik, Tsygan, Ryjik, Bolik or Zib? I wouldn’t leave my apartment if I was saddled with a name like one of those or Smelaya, Malyshka or Otvazhnaya. There were at least 15 other dogs with names equally silly. It is almost as if the Soviets went out of their way to choose names that seem designed to make people laugh at these hapless pups. It is just this sort of insensitivity that would eventually lead to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Russians’ loss of primacy in the space race.