Remembering Laika: 'Space Dogs' Documentary Explores Moscow Through a Stray's Eyes (space.com) 18
Space.com reports:
Laika, a stray dog scooped off the streets of Moscow, launched on the Soviet Union's Sputnik 2 mission in November 1957, just a month after Sputnik 1's liftoff opened the space age. The 11-lb. (5 kilograms) mixed-breed quickly died of overheating and circled Earth as a corpse until April 1958, when Sputnik 2 fell back into the atmosphere and burned up.
Laika was sacrificed to aid humanity's march into the cosmos, her pioneering mission and those of her successors designed to help show that our species could survive jaunts into the final frontier. A new documentary called "Space Dogs" asks us to examine that sacrifice and what it says about us. [Trailer here] "This film is about the relationship of another species to us humans. A species that has been used in space history in two ways: both as an experimental object and as a symbol of courage and heroism," directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter said in a statement.
"The dogs had to fulfill mankind's dream by conquering the cosmos for them," the duo added...
Kremser and Peter dug up stunning, never-before-seen footage of Laika and other Soviet space dogs. Some of these archival snippets show the pups being prepped for their landmark launches, their poor little bodies bristling with implanted tubes and wires. Other footage depicts post-landing processing of the shorn and wobbly strays fortunate enough to survive their orbital ordeals. Getting ahold of this priceless historic material was no easy task...
"Space Dogs" is not chiefly about Laika and her fellow space explorers; the historical footage comprises less than one-third of the roughly 90-minute film. The bulk of the documentary is devoted to strays on the streets of modern Moscow, especially one young dog with floppy ears who roams the city with charismatic enthusiasm.
This week saw the "virtual cinema launch" of the documentary, with a real-world release into theatres next weekend.
Laika was sacrificed to aid humanity's march into the cosmos, her pioneering mission and those of her successors designed to help show that our species could survive jaunts into the final frontier. A new documentary called "Space Dogs" asks us to examine that sacrifice and what it says about us. [Trailer here] "This film is about the relationship of another species to us humans. A species that has been used in space history in two ways: both as an experimental object and as a symbol of courage and heroism," directors Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter said in a statement.
"The dogs had to fulfill mankind's dream by conquering the cosmos for them," the duo added...
Kremser and Peter dug up stunning, never-before-seen footage of Laika and other Soviet space dogs. Some of these archival snippets show the pups being prepped for their landmark launches, their poor little bodies bristling with implanted tubes and wires. Other footage depicts post-landing processing of the shorn and wobbly strays fortunate enough to survive their orbital ordeals. Getting ahold of this priceless historic material was no easy task...
"Space Dogs" is not chiefly about Laika and her fellow space explorers; the historical footage comprises less than one-third of the roughly 90-minute film. The bulk of the documentary is devoted to strays on the streets of modern Moscow, especially one young dog with floppy ears who roams the city with charismatic enthusiasm.
This week saw the "virtual cinema launch" of the documentary, with a real-world release into theatres next weekend.
Not the most vicious experiment on dogs by Soviets (Score:2)
The 1940s Soviet dog head being kept alive experiment was pretty terrible to do on a living being: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
I understand we need to do science but there must be ethical boundaries of what we do and how we do it.
Re: (Score:3)
I pity lab animals. But if there are ethical boundaries to avoid crossing, I'd rather humanity took care of its warring and genocidal tendencies first. Let's worry about pooches after that's dealt with: at least animals are sacrified for useful purposes - mostly.
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Yes wars and genocide are bad, but if we're treating animals like shit, given circumstance we would be capable of inflicting that lack of empathy and hatred towards each other too.
Given how unfailingly loyal dogs have been to humans, it's sick that we would treat them this way. If we can abuse our best friend, we can abuse anyone.
Re: Not the most vicious experiment on dogs by Sov (Score:2)
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research at least has a point, limits may be discussed but at least it implies an advance and benefit for all future humanity.
the insane levels of meat consumption just contribute to a few big companies stuffing their pockets, and produces suffering in a much greater scale. suffering inflicted on humans (for very much the same reasons) doesn't even compare.
also reforming the food industry is far easier than changing general 'human condition'. we're assholes, that's hard to change, but meat isn't a necessity
Re:Not the most vicious experiment on dogs by Sovi (Score:4, Interesting)
Back then there were a lot of very dubious experiments being done on living creatures, including humans. The nuclear tests are one of the most well known examples, exposing people to conditions that lead to health problems and premature death. The CIA's MK Ultra programme is another famous one.
There was a general feeling that the world was on the brink and that nuclear war or space technology could be critical to the very survival of entire nations so the normal ethical rules were ignored by people who thought they were doing what was necessary. The Soviets were no exception, although those involved have expressed regret that they didn't at least try to return Laika to the Earth.
Re:Not the most vicious experiment on dogs by Sovi (Score:5, Insightful)
Human beings are a nasty species.
The USA never sent any dogs into space.... (Score:3)
They sent chimpanzees instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
The soviet test was to see if mammals could survive zero gravity. After the Gagarin flight, that was known.
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That guy also killed other dogs, and then revived them ten minutes later with the claim that they then went on to lead normal lives. I suspect that this claim might have been aided by the fact that dog
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It's a documentary relatable to nerds. Seems fine to me. Space.com has been a common Slashdot source for years.
Not sure why this wasn't more widely reported (Score:3)
Laika eventually came back... [theonion.com]
Space Doggity (Score:2)
Hello, handsome! (Score:1)
rathergood.com remembered Laika (Score:1)
Doggy Love (Score:1)