And now a page from our \"Sunday Morning\" Almanac: August 20, 1960 -- 57 years ago today -- a date that gives new meaning to the expression \"dog days of summer.\" <\/p>\n
Soviet space dogs Strelka and Belka after a successful space flight in 1960. <\/p>\n
ITAR-TASS Photo Agency\/Alamy <\/p>\n
For that was the day space dogs Belka and Strelka returned alive after orbiting the Earth for a day in a Soviet spacecraft. <\/p>\n
Belka and Strelka were female strays recruited for space travel on the theory that street dogs were a tougher breed than those pampered house pets. <\/p>\n
Belka and Strelka had the right stuff all right, becoming the first canine cosmonauts to survive an orbital space flight -- clearing the way for Yuri Gagarin to become the first human cosmonaut the following April. <\/p>\n
Belka and Strelka never left Earth again. Strelka famously went on to give birth to a litter of puppies, one of whom was given to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as a goodwill gift. <\/p>\n
Pushinka, offspring of Soviet space dog Stelka, sits outside her adopted home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. <\/p>\n
William J. Smith\/AP <\/p>\n
When THAT dog gave birth, President Kennedy playfully labeled her offspring \"pupniks.\" <\/p>\n
Russia honors the memory of Belka and Strelka to this day. <\/p>\n
The animated movie feature \"Space Dogs,\" released in 2010, tells their story. <\/p>\n
And the REAL Belka and Strelka are still on view -- stuffed, alas -- beside their space capsule at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow. <\/p>\n
The stuffed remains of Belka and Strekla, on display next to the capsule in which they flew into outer space, at the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow. <\/p>\n
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Almanac: Dogs in space - CBS News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And now a page from our \"Sunday Morning\" Almanac: August 20, 1960 -- 57 years ago today -- a date that gives new meaning to the expression \"dog days of summer.\" Soviet space dogs Strelka and Belka after a successful space flight in 1960. ITAR-TASS Photo Agency\/Alamy For that was the day space dogs Belka and Strelka returned alive after orbiting the Earth for a day in a Soviet spacecraft. Belka and Strelka were female strays recruited for space travel on the theory that street dogs were a tougher breed than those pampered house pets. Continue reading