01:36For news purposes only. Onscreen RGAKFD logo must remain visible and intact. No access news agencies
Archive footage filmed in 1960 features the famous Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka, as well as other animals participating in the USSR's space programme.
Belka and Strelka can be seen in the lab wearing special equipment during their preparation for the first-ever flight into space performed by higher living organisms.
Sputnik 5 capsule with Belka and Strelka aboard was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 19, 1960.
The first Soviet space dogs, accompanied by a grey rabbit, two rats, 42 mice, flies, several plants, and fungi, spent a day in orbit before safely returning to the Earth.
After the success of their mission, Belka and Strelka attracted lots of attention from the international community. On August 21, a press conference of four-legged 'cosmonauts' was organised by the Soviet news agency TASS.
Strelka reportedly went on to have six puppies; one, named Pushinka ('Fluffy' in English), was presented to US President John F. Kennedy by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
This archive footage is released as part of the '100 Key Events in Russia in the 20th and 21st Centuries', a project with the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive (rgakfd.ru).
Soviet dogs Belka and Strelka conduct first ever orbital mission *ARCHIVE*
Archive footage filmed in 1960 features the famous Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka, as well as other animals participating in the USSR's space programme.
Belka and Strelka can be seen in the lab wearing special equipment during their preparation for the first-ever flight into space performed by higher living organisms.
Sputnik 5 capsule with Belka and Strelka aboard was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 19, 1960.
The first Soviet space dogs, accompanied by a grey rabbit, two rats, 42 mice, flies, several plants, and fungi, spent a day in orbit before safely returning to the Earth.
After the success of their mission, Belka and Strelka attracted lots of attention from the international community. On August 21, a press conference of four-legged 'cosmonauts' was organised by the Soviet news agency TASS.
Strelka reportedly went on to have six puppies; one, named Pushinka ('Fluffy' in English), was presented to US President John F. Kennedy by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
This archive footage is released as part of the '100 Key Events in Russia in the 20th and 21st Centuries', a project with the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive (rgakfd.ru).
For news purposes only. Onscreen RGAKFD logo must remain visible and intact. No access news agencies
Archive footage filmed in 1960 features the famous Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka, as well as other animals participating in the USSR's space programme.
Belka and Strelka can be seen in the lab wearing special equipment during their preparation for the first-ever flight into space performed by higher living organisms.
Sputnik 5 capsule with Belka and Strelka aboard was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 19, 1960.
The first Soviet space dogs, accompanied by a grey rabbit, two rats, 42 mice, flies, several plants, and fungi, spent a day in orbit before safely returning to the Earth.
After the success of their mission, Belka and Strelka attracted lots of attention from the international community. On August 21, a press conference of four-legged 'cosmonauts' was organised by the Soviet news agency TASS.
Strelka reportedly went on to have six puppies; one, named Pushinka ('Fluffy' in English), was presented to US President John F. Kennedy by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1961.
This archive footage is released as part of the '100 Key Events in Russia in the 20th and 21st Centuries', a project with the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive (rgakfd.ru).