Laika was a small stray dog picked up from the streets of Moscow and trained for space experiments. On 3 November 1957, she was launched into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 and became the first living creature to ever orbit the Earth. At that time, scientists did not even have a plan or technology to bring her back safely. For many years, it was claimed that she survived for several days. Later it was revealed that she actually died within a few hours due to overheating and extreme stress inside the cap