Instant Genius - Russia's canine cosmonauts

Episode Date: July 4, 2018

Russian space dogs paved the way to sending humans into the cosmos. By studying how space flight affected dogs, scientists could establish whether it was safe to blast humans into space too. In this episode, we talk to Vix Southgate, who has just written a children’s book about the dogs Belka and Strelka – the first two creatures to go into orbit and return safely back to Earth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This podcast is sponsored by name, audio and focal. Streaming has made music more accessible than ever, but true listening is about more than ease. It's about quality. British audio experts name audio, alongside third. French acoustic specialist focal, combine handcrafted tradition with cutting-edge innovation and high-end materials, delivering digital precision with analogue warmth. So you can experience exceptional sound at home. Music just as the artist intended. Visit name audio.com to learn more. The reason for their amazing story is the fact that they were the first two dogs to come from

orbit alive. So they landed, they survived and then they have a story beyond their spaceflight. You're listening to the Science Focus Podcast from the BBC Focus magazine team. We're the UK's best-selling science and technology monthly, available in print and in several digital formats throughout the world. Find out more at sciencefocus.com or look out for us in your app store. Hello and welcome to the Science Focus podcast. I'm Dan Bennett, editor of BBC Focus magazine.

Belka and Stralka were two strays plucked from the streets of Russia, who went on to become space dogs. They were the first creatures to visit space and, crucially, were the first to return back to Earth alive. When they got back home, the two dogs became celebrities and their work paved the way for future space missions. So in this episode, we talked to Vicks Southgate,

an author who also manages World Space Week here in the UK. She was so inspired by the story of Belker and Stralker that she's written a book for children, dogs in space. And with it, she hopes to inspire youngsters about these plucky canines. She spoke to our production editor, Alice Lipscomb Southwell, and told us all about canine space suits, doggy training regimes, and what happened to Belker and Strouca after their mission. Also, make sure you stay tuned to the end of this episode

for details of how to win one of £5.50 shopping vouchers. First of all, if you'd like to tell us all about Belker and Stralka. Okay, so Belker and Stralka were two dogs from, we assume the streets of Moscow. This is the majority of the documented information that Russia puts out there. So we can't be entirely sure exactly where these two specific dogs came from, but we do assume it is from the streets of Moscow. So that's where my story was based. So a lot of the dogs who came into the Russian space program were from, they were strays from the streets of Moscow.

So they were brought in, they were hand-picked from the streets and then they were tested. So Belker and Strelka, Belker had been on several other flights before she went into, onto the orbital flight. and Strzalca came in and the orbital flight was her first flight. And this was a flight where it was the first one to go into orbit around the Earth. Is that right? It's not the first one to orbit the Earth. The first one was Leica, who went up in 1957 just after Sputnik, the month after Sputnik was launched.

So Belker and Strelka, the reason for their amazing story is the fact that they were the first two dogs to come from orbit alive. So they landed, they survived, and then they have a story beyond their space flight. So that's the amazing story of Belker and Strelka. Is that what inspired you to write about them? I was actually inspired to write about them because I have such a fascination in the Russian space race. I researched Yuri Gagarin's flight, the first spaceman. I researched him back in 2009, 2010, and wrote a biography for children about him.

And so since then, I've just been absolutely fascinated on the Russian space race because everybody knows about the American side of it, but very few people are really up to date with what happened on the Russian side. So what was the purpose of Belker and Strelka's mission, and how long were they up there for? Right. So the purpose of all the dog missions was to find out how spaceflight affects a living creature. So the human space flights would not have actually gone up had it not been for the successful flights of the dogs in space.

So Belca and Strzalca, they were the 35th mission into space, but only the second mission to orbit the Earth. So lots of different dog missions were sent up to certain heights. So 212 kilometers, 451 kilometers. and those flights were to test the landing gear. They were to test how the dogs react to launch, you know, how they reacted to landing. But Belker and Stralka were the first ones to orbit the earth and come back alive. They were up there for just under one day.

So they launched on 19th of August 1960 at about 8.45 in the morning. And they landed on the 20th of August, 1960, did about 6 o'clock in the morning. So they did about 17 orbits, 16 full orbits, 17 orbits, the 17th orbit was the one where they came back down to Earth, so the spaceship was told to come back down and start its re-entry on the 17th orbit. So they didn't do a full orbit on the 17th one. But yeah, so they were in space for about 22 hours. So how much training did they undergo beforehand? Did they have to go through an extensive training regime like astronauts would have to as well? Oh yeah. I mean they they were the forerunners for

astronaut training so because they're a living creature you have to test their psychological emotions their mental state you know their medical state as well so they would do the centrifuge test just to see how their body would cope with the g-force the centrifuge and all the other testings as well would test their behavior. They would be put into kennels on their own to see how they dealt with solitude. And basically, if they didn't like any of this, they were taken off the program because what the Russians were very keen on was they didn't want stressed animals. You know, so if the animals showed any sign of stress, they would be taken off the program and

some other animal would be put in there, you know, because they didn't want a stressed animal to go up into space because any data they got from a stressed animal would not be good enough data for medical tests or anything like that for human spaceflight. So all the animals that went up to up into space, they were all very, very happy to do that job, you know, that they were able to cope with the pressure. They were able to cope with the G-Force. They were able to cope with the psychological way of their solitude in space. you know so they were very happy dogs and they were trained to do what they what they did

so when they were actually on the spaceship with could they do they wear little space suits could they move around on the spaceship or were they sort of strapped in and kept very stable when they were up there um right well again from the documented information they had these spacesuits as to whether or not the dogs were actually strapped into their seat or anything like that it's not overly clear from the information that you can find. But they are in a small capsule of their own. They've got their space suit on. They can move around.

They've got wriggle room and they can do their business as they would need to in space. So, yeah, so they did have their own little spacesuits on. So they had to learn how to wear clothes as well. So that was one of the tests that they had to do was to put clothes on and they all had their own little flight suits and everything. It's all very adorable. But what were the effects of the space flight on the dogs? I mean, presumably once they come back to Earth,

they went and they underwent a barrage of tests like astronauts do as well. Did they find anything when they studied them? Nothing that actually spoke out that it was dangerous to go on space flights or anything like that. I mean, the main things were, I mean, the effects in space of the G-Force, their heart rates would have changed. and fluctuated and things. They did get motion sick in space. I mean, Belka herself was sick during the space flight. You know, so they would have all the normal reactions that you would expect from any space

flights, all the astronauts that they have now, they would have felt the pressure, they would have felt the differences, they would have felt the weightlessness. But as to whether or not it affected their physiology, it didn't. Strzker went on. She had pups. She had six pups with a dog named Pushok. And one of her pups was called Poshinka. And she went to live with the Kennedys over in America, President Kennedy and his daughter, Caroline. And that pup has had pups as well. And we can follow their genealogy through America because they were given to schools and people, families that needed them. So, you know, so it didn't affect any reproduction. you know, there was no harmful effect on the dogs. It was just a case of these dogs were sent into space so that we could see how it affected a living creature. I wonder how that helped sort of Russian and US relations at the time

because obviously there was this big space race going on and then if the offspring of one of the Russian space dogs went off to live with the Kennedys, then I wonder. Yeah, it is a very political time, as you can imagine. So, yes, the giving of gifts. and the sending of the cosmonauts when they went up to space, the Russian astronauts, you know, those people going on tours of different countries. It was so very heavily politically based.

So, yeah, so giving one of the Russian space dogs pops to the American president was definitely a political act as a gift, you know. When those dogs were in space, I mean, you said that one of them suffered from motion sickness. But I mean, were they wearing special dog space nappies as well? Or were they just like wing all over the place when they're at first? Right, no. As I say, they're all in the spacesuits. So any functions that they had up there would be absorbed by aspects of the space suit.

They would basically choose, for the orbital flights, they would only choose female dogs. Because a female dog doesn't have to cock her leg to go to the space suit. toilet. So, you know, so the restrictions within the capsules meant that they couldn't send the male dogs on the orbital flights because of the way that they were actually structured into their seats. But so, yeah, so it was always female dogs, but yeah, it would all all capture. As to the other version of bodily functions, I honestly don't know. There is no recorded information as to how they, it's number two, shall we say. So poor person has to clean it all. up when they get back again.

So on that note, then were they given any water or anything to eat on the flight? And if they were given food, then what were they eating up there? That's an interesting question. I've not actually read any information about how they were given water, but they must have been because that's essential to dogs they need it. Otherwise, they'll dehydrate as with humans. So I can only assume that either they were able to, or they were, were taught to learn how to drink through a straw or something to be able to get the liquid.

Or maybe the food was just so heavily packed with nutrients and with water in those because they were taught how to eat from a conveyor belt system. So at set times, the conveyor belt would pop open its lid and the dogs would eat from it. So during their testing, again, they had to get used to the sound of this thing popping open and it didn't scare them, you know, when it popped open. and they knew they were going to get food once it popped out. You know, so they thought about all of this. They didn't starve the dogs.

They didn't harm the dogs in any way. Everything was geared around trying to keep the dogs happy and healthy and in as good a state as possible. So, again, they can get the medical data that they need from the flight. So why do they pick dogs? I mean, why not guinea pigs or cats or anything like that? Right. Well, I mean, obviously, we've all heard about the chimps that were sent up

from America. There were monkeys that were sent up, mainly because again, monkeys, their mannerism as the way that they function is very human-like. Guinea pigs, cats, there has been a cat go up there. As to guinea pigs, I'm not sure. I think they've probably been on as extras on the flights, just as with

Belker and Strzellka, there were mice and rabbits and all sorts on their flight. But the reason that the Russians chose dogs is, because of their trainability. So because they are an amenable animal, you know, you can train them. You know how they're going to react to certain things. Monkeys, you're not quite sure, you know, people, you're not quite sure, but at least you can

communicate with people. But with the dogs, they're trainable. They want to please you. They want to do what you want them to do. And so that's why the Russians chose dogs. Yeah, I suppose cats are just going to say, nope, not going to do that. aren't they so. But it is that sort of thing.

You know, if you train a dog to sit for a long time, it will sit for a long time. If you try and train a cat, it won't. So you have to strap that cat down. Now, to me, that sounds absolutely awful. You know, and that's very stressful, I would have thought, for a creature that doesn't want to be held in one position for a long period of time. So, dogs, again, it's less cruel, in my view. some people might say that there are different aspects to that.

But if a dog is happy and healthy and is doing what it wants to do, I think that there is an aspect there that says, yes, we can utilise these animals to further humans in space. So Belker and Stralki, so they're quite famous. They were the first dogs to go into an orbital flight and then come back alive as well. So when future dogs went up, did they all tend to come back alive or was it or was it Belker and Strzalca? But then there was a bit of sort of patchy results after that.

Well, in the Russian side of the missions, they had over 50 dogs in their training session. And add to that, before Belker and Strzalca went up, four of those missions failed, which meant two dogs per spacecraft. so eight were lost before Belcran Strachau went up. And then afterwards only one mission failed completely where the two dogs were killed. Other missions that went up that weren't orbital, there were nine dogs that died, but they all died on landing. So what the Russians used to do is they would test the landing aspects of the capsule. So some would actually have their capsule, the individual. capsules that dogs were inside would have them one ejected and the other one land in the capsule.

And so depending on which aspect was the better of that particular flight, one of the dogs might have died on that flight and the other one's five. Sometimes both of them died because the parachute failed on landing. So there were aspects, but out of 50 missions, sorry, 50 dogs, they were only about 18 that actually died. I mean, how many animals altogether do you reckon have sort of died in our drive to visit space? Because, I mean, it's wonderful to the success stories, but you just think it's not just the dogs. You know, like you said, there's been rabbits and things like this. So, I mean, it must number in the hundreds, mustn't it?

I haven't looked into that side of the space flight. I am assuming that before we had an understanding that animals were sentient beings and had feelings and all of that sort of stuff, and we had all the animal rights side of things come in. I'm sure there were quite a few failed flights for science there. But since we, once everybody started realizing that actually we needed to look after animals, we needed to care for them, you know, we need to do what we do best as humans and look after everything else, the amount of flights that actually would have been done would have resulted in fewer casualty. because they would only go up if they thought that they were going to come back down safely.

So after their space mission, they came back. You said Belker and Stralka, one of them went on to have puppies. Do we know what the other one went on to do? Did she do more space flights or did she just have a nice life of retirement after that? They both had a very nice life of retirement after that. Neither of them were sent back up into space after that because they became overnight celebrities. So they were more useful for the Russians, for the political side of things alive, than they would have been dead.

So they were taken to schools. They did a lot of outreach work. They did press conferences. I mean, you can't really imagine it in today's world, having two dogs going to do a press conference. But they were taken out. They were shown. There was a big fuss made of them,

and everybody loved and wanted to see them. and then they spent the rest of their natural lives. They died of old age, and they spent it with the scientists and the people. I think they lived in the Space Medical Center, at the Research Center that they grew up in and did all their training in. But it's not like a science center. It's not somewhere where they were constantly being monitored or anything like that. They were living as pets by that time.

It must be quite hard in a way if you think for a lot of the scientists there they would have gone through all the time sort of training these dogs and they must have formed attachments to them and then, I mean, I think it was lovely if they come back and they survived but it must have been quite heartbreaking the missions that didn't work.

Each of the dogs or each of the scientists were given a selection of dogs that they were responsible for and so, you know, yes, you do because you've got to keep them healthy, you've got to keep them happy, you take them for walks,

you do all the normal things that a dog owner does. But at the end of the day, these are working dogs. So I suppose the attachment is as much of an attachment that a farmer has to his sheep dogs loves them and everything, but they're kept in kennels outside. You know, they're not a house dog. But yeah, the dogs that weren't happy, the dogs that failed the testing, they were the ones

that went home with the scientists and became family pet. Oh, so it wasn't all bad then. Oh, no, absolutely not. man. So if we, in time, there's a lot of talk at the moment about potentially setting up a base on the moon or on Mars, do you think we could take our pets with us? I can't see any reason why not. I suppose, yeah, that would be fantastic, wouldn't it, to take your dog for a holiday on the moon or something?

That's just been marvellous. But yeah, the only thing I think there is that as with spaceflight, you are going to have to test. how these dogs and animals and pets and whatever else you take to the moon or to Mars with you are going to survive there, how they're going to react to it. So there will have to be test subjects that go if that is something that we do eventually do. Because I suppose since all space exploration is about moving off this planet because it's not going to last forever. We need to move further into the universe.

We need to move away from the sun that is heating up and growing. and you know so if that is our ultimate goal is to create the ability to move to another planet we are going to have to move all forms of life so not just the animals but the plants you know everything is going to have to go gosh interesting I'm like yeah that's a really oh I've not thought about that before now I see I might just take your dog for a walk in like lower gravity as well throwing a ball for them yeah I don't know Yeah, I don't think you could throw a ball for your dog with one of those ball throwers on the moon.

Otherwise, you'd probably lose the dog around the other side of the planet, wouldn't you? At the moon. That was Vicks, Southgate Bear, talking to Alice Lipscomb Southwell, the production editor of BBC Focus. Her children's book, Dog's in Space, The Amazing True Story of Belka and Stralker, is available now. While you're here, if you have a few minutes to spare, we'd really appreciate it if you could take part in our latest piece of

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in the middle of Siberia, and of course, much, much more. Thanks for listening. If you liked what you heard, then why not subscribe and leave us a review? You can find us on iTunes, Acast, Stitcher and many of your favourite podcast apps. Thank you for listening to the Science Focus podcast from the BBC Focus magazine team. We're the UK's best-selling science and technology monthly, available in print and in several digital formats throughout the world. Find out more at ScienceFocus.com or look out for us in your app store. This podcast is sponsored by name, audio and focal.

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