50 years ago, on 3 November 1957, a Russian A1 rocket was again prepared for the journey
into orbit. Tucked inside the nose cone was the worlds first spacecraft.
A small pressure cabin and oxygen supply were used to keep the first living creature, a small dog named Laika ("Barker") alive as she circled the Earth. The flight proved that animals, and by extension, humans, could survive in the harsh vacuum of space, and led to the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin only 4 years later.Â