[hattend]

The capsule disintegrated when it reentered the atmosphere April 14th, 1958.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika

[chessplayer]

“Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists responsible for sending Laika into space, expressed regret for allowing her to die:

“Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it... We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”