The first animal sent into space was a dog named Laika. Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, was launched aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. This historic mission marked humanity's first foray into sending a living creature into Earth's orbit, paving the way for future manned space missions. Unfortunately, Laika did not survive the mission, as the technology to safely return a living being from orbit had not yet been developed. Laika's journey raised ethical discussions around the treatment of animals in scientific research and space exploration.