Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 3, 2022

Laika (c. 1954 – 1957) was one of the first animals in space and the first animal to orbit Earth. A stray mongrel from Moscow, she was selected as the occupant of Sputnik 2 which launched into low orbit on 3 November 1957. The mission aimed to prove that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure a micro-g environment, leading to human spaceflight and providing data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments. Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload. The true cause and time of her death were not made public until 2002; instead, it was reported that she died when her oxygen ran out on day six or, as the Soviet government initially claimed, she was euthanised prior to oxygen depletion. On 11 April 2008, a monument to Laika was unveiled near the military research facility that prepared her flight to space. She also appears on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space.