Saturday, April 12, 2008

Russian Memorial for Laika

They say the earlier an emotional trauma, the deeper the emotional memory, and the more non-verbal, unexpressed and affecting in the Unconscious mind.

And because it resides in the Twilight Zone, the borderline between what we call the Conscious and Unconscious , it matters not whether the emotional affect, manifested later in life is reasonable or not. That most creative and imaginative of these "two minds" is also the most "unreasonable."

Which may be why this site features in its left column a shared graphic memorializing the "brave" little "Barker," or Laika, the original space creature and perhaps the first intelligent creature from Earth to both travel in Space and orbit Earth, though the mongrel died, ironically, to prove animals, and therefore Human Beings also, could survive Space Travel.

Thus, we appreciate Ian O'Neill's piece delivered from the essential UNIVERSE TODAY with a story of that "True Space Pioneer," who, rather than "gave" its life, had its life hijacked for Space Exploration.

On Friday Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika, the pioneering dog that led the way to manned spaceflight on November 3rd, 1957. Her little memorial is a model dog standing atop a rocket near a military research facility in Moscow. When she made the historic flight into space on board Sputnik II, very little was known about the effects of launch and zero-gravity on an animal and Laika wasn't thought to make it. Due to her being so small and hardy, she made it into orbit, but this was a one way ticket, she had no idea there would be no coming home… be warned, this isn't a happy tale…

The dogs chosen for the Russian space program were usually stray mongrels as it was believed they could survive and adapt in harsh conditions. Also, small dogs were chosen as they could fit into the capsule and were light for launch. Two year old Laika was apparently chosen from the animal shelter in Moscow for her good looks. After all, the first Russian into space would need to be photogenic. There was intense excitement about her selection for participation in the space race and she endeared herself to scientists and the public; she was described as "quiet and charming".

Read more HERE.