Russia Opens Monument to Space Dog Laika

April 11th, 2008 in Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Russia Opens Monument to Space Dog Laika (AP)

A view of Laika, Nov. 5, 1957, the female dog that Russian officials say is riding into outer space as a passenger aboard Sputnik II. Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a mongrel dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions. The small monument is located near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket. (AP Photo/NASA)

(AP) -- Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.

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