To understand how poor Laika ended up on a rocket with no plans for an earthly return, it's important to understand the context of space travel in the 1950s. By the time Laika went on her one-way mission, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were years into the Cold War, a conflict that would last decades and involve espionage, bloodshed, and perhaps most surprising, lots of cultural competition. Both nations wanted to prove their mettle (and the validity of their respective political ideologies) by being the first to put a man on the moon, but before humans could safely make it to space, animals were sent in their place.

According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, the first known animals in space were fruit flies, which were sent 67 miles into the air in 1947 by Americans who were curious about how cosmic radiation might impact biological structures. Soon, scientists started using mammals like dogs and monkeys in order to figure out exactly what astronauts would need to be prepared for when leaving Earth, as well as what spacesuits and other onboard technology could do to mitigate the effects of space travel.

While it's tough to imagine an alternative method of rudimentary research that wouldn't kill lots of astronauts in the process, the use of animals in early space travel experiments is no doubt extremely upsetting. Many animals died over the course of the Space Age, but few stories are as tragic as Laika's. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the dog, who is often cited as part Samoyed but in images also appears to be part terrier, was chosen from among several stray dogs from Moscow for the mission aboard Sputnik 2. Like Cosmo, she had special gear for her travels, including a diaper-like affixed bag, a harness, and electrodes to capture readings on her vitals throughout the journey, per NASA.

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