greg3 Posted August 1, 2019 (edited) This was my entry to a recent competition run by Brickmania on the topic of "The Space Race"... Launched by the USSR on Nov 3rd 1957 (less than a month after Sputnik 1), Sputnik 2 was the second spacecraft to orbit the Earth, and the first to carry a living creature, a dog called Laika, into orbit. These 3 builds represent different parts of the mission.Launch Vehicle (microscale). Sputnik 2 was launched into orbit on an R7 ballistic missile which consisted of 4 booster rockets around a central core engine that acted as a second stage. This rocket is the Brickmania Vostok 1 set - all I did was replace the Vostok 1 spacecraft with a 4x4x3 cone (which took quite a bit of finding and cleaning up!!) Untitled by g.nat, on FlickrMission Payload (minifig scale). Inside the rocket's nose cone was Laika's capsule which contained room for the dog, biometric monitoring equipment, an air purification system, food dispenser, cooling fan and waste collection. Above this was a sphere (an upgraded version of Sputnik 1) containing a transmitter that allowed the craft to be tracked. Finally at the very top were scientific instruments to measure radiation levels in orbit. The capsule has a removable hatch with a custom printed sticker to represent the viewport. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on FlickrOrbital Configuration (microscale). Once in orbit, the R-7's boosters and the protective nose cone shroud were jettisoned, exposing the capsule and instruments to space. Unlike Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2 remained attached to the core stage of the R7 rocket so that it could use the engine telemetry system to transmit data from the capsule. Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Untitled by g.nat, on FlickrUnfortunately for Laika, her flight was always planned to be a one way trip as the capsule wasn't designed to survive reentry (political pressure to beat the US meant the mission was launched before the technology was ready). At the time, the Soviets claimed that she had survived for a week in orbit before being humanely euthanised with poisoned food before the air ran out. It wasn't until 2002 that the truth emerged. After surviving the stress of the launch, Laika seemed to be settling down as the craft orbited Earth but during the 3rd and 4th orbits, the capsule temperature began to rise (probably due to damaged heat shielding). A few hours later, with the capsule temperature well over 40ºC, no signs of life could be detected. After about 7-10 days, the batteries ran out but the craft remained in orbit for a further 5 months before burning up on reentry over the Amazon. The fate of Laika led to protests and discussions around the world on the ethics of using animals in this way (including among the Soviet scientists involved). All future Soviet dog missions were planned with the dog's survival in mind, resulting in the next 2 space dogs (Belka and Strelka) becoming the first living things to safely return to Earth from space in Sputnik 5. (One of Belka's puppies would later be given to John F Kennedy as a gift!) Finally the 3 builds together... Untitled by g.nat, on Flickr Thanks for looking - comments are always welcome. Edited August 1, 2019 by greg3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
