sputnik 2 (Celestia software)

On November 3, 1957, the USSR stunned the world with a new space sensation -- the launch of Sputnik-2 carrying a dog onboard. The Space Age had barely started less than a month before, with the launch of the first Soviet satellite on October 4, 1957. Sputnik-1, a 40-pound sphere, looked very heavy compared to the U.S. spacecraft under development at the time. Now four weeks later, the Soviet press boasted about the 508.3-kilogram (1,120.8-pound) spacecraft carrying the first-ever live passenger -- a dog named Laika.