Labels:text | poster | clothing | mammal OCR: STRELKA AND BELKA THE FIRST ANIMALS to go into orbit and return to Earth were two dogs named Strelka and Belka. Their mission, in August 1960, was a rehearsal for Vostok and proved that a living creature could travel into space and return safely to Earth. The dogs spent a day in space, orbiting the planet 18 times, before their capsule fired its motor to reenter the atmosphere and return to Earth. There were two more successful flights with dogs prior to Yury Gagarin's historic journey in Vostok 1. CANINE COMPANIONS Accompanying Strelka and Belka on their mission were rats, mice, and flies - all returned safely.
