← INDEX — FIG. 00 — THE BIOLOGY FLIGHTS, 1947–2025
V-2 → Bion-M No. 2
PASSENGER
LAIKA, BELKA & STRELKA, HAM AND THE BIOLOGY FLIGHTS
Before anyone flew, animals did.
BEGIN — CHAPTER 01 →CH.01 / 09 — WHITE SANDS AND KAPUSTIN YAR, 1947–51
Up, a few minutes of falling, and a parachute
Fruit flies on a V-2 in 1947 [1][2]; Albert II died at impact [1].
Dezik and Tsygan, 22 July 1951, about 110 km [3].
HOW LONG A SOUNDING ROCKET FALLS FREELY
t = 2 √(2 Δh / g) · apogee 110 km, above 60 km: t ≈ 3.4 min
Free-fall time.
CH.02 / 09 — 3 NOVEMBER 1957
Laika and a cabin that could not shed its heat
Sputnik 2 and Laika [4][5][6][7].
Overheating within hours [4][6][7]; separation disputed [8][9].
A SEALED BOX IN ONE EQUATION
C dT/dt = Qdog + Qeq + Qsun(t) − UA (T − Ts) · Teq = Ts + Q̄ / UA · τ = C / UA
Heat balance.
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Model assumptions.
CH.03 / 09 — KORABL-SPUTNIKS, 1960–61
Belka and Strelka, and the flights either side of them
Belka and Strelka, 19–20 August 1960 [11].
Pchyolka and Mushka died [12]; rehearsals [14][15].
WHY A DAY MEANT SEVENTEEN ORBITS
306 × 339 km → T = 90.9 min · 26 h 23 min ÷ T = 17.4 orbits
Orbit count.
CH.04 / 09 — MERCURY-REDSTONE 2, 31 JANUARY 1961
A chimpanzee at work, and a booster that ran hot
Ham: 17 g, 6½ min weightless, 14.6 g [16][17].
Reaction time 0.82 s [16]; Shepard 11.0 g [18][19].
WHY FASTER MEANS HARDER ON THE WAY DOWN
amax ≈ Ve² sin γe / (2 e H)
Allen–Eggers.
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Model notes.
CH.05 / 09 — MERCURY-ATLAS 5, 29 NOVEMBER 1961
Two orbits, a faulty lever, and Glenn's dress rehearsal
MA-5: two orbits, 7.8 g [16].
Lever malfunction [16]; died 1962 of dysentery [21].
CHECKING THE ORBIT
160 × 237 km → T = 88.3 min (published 88 min 26 s)
Orbit check.
CH.06 / 09 — 1963–2025
A cat, two tortoises round the Moon, and the biosatellites
Félicette [22][23]; Kosmos 110 [1].
Zond 5 [24]; Bion [1][25][26][27].
CH.07 / 09 — FOR GAGARIN AND SHEPARD
What each flight answered — and what it could not
What the flights answered.
Gazenko, 1998 [28].
Legend.
CH.08 / 09 — LEGACY
From fruit flies to a polar-orbit mouse colony
Gagarin's single orbit.
CH.09 / 09 — REFERENCES