Encore: The Space Race | Playing Catch Up | 2
American History Tellers
Eisenhower's Dream of a Space Dog
The US had the ability to beat the Soviets to space, but they didn't and Eisenhower wanted to know why. The Army's redstone rocket program have been ready to launch a satellite into space for months. In November 1957 barely a month after the surprise launch of Sputnik the Soviets deployed Sputnik 2 with its live canine passenger her name was Lyka. For years Soviet propaganda concealed Lyka's true fate claiming she survived until the fourth day in orbit in reality Lyka died of overheating after about only six hours Despite Lyka's sacrifice the new satellite orbited the Earth at an altitude 500 miles higher than that of Sputniks 1.
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