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edmund hillary and tenzing norgay

“Well, we knocked the bastard off!”
Edmund Hillary (July 20, 1919 – January 11, 2008)

• Hillary's comment to George Lowe, after his successful ascent of Mt Everest, as he and Tenzing Norgay were descending from the summit. (29 May 1953); as recounted in Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (1975) Ch. 10;


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“Woof!”
Laika (from Russian: Лайка, a breed of dog, literally: "Barker")

• Laika first said "hello" to the people of Earth on a radio broadcast, Oct. 27, a week before her historic flight. She barked into the microphone.
While in space, she transmitted a continual "beep-beep-beep" on a radio frequency that served as a tracking signal. Soon after launch, Sputnik 2's transmitters failed and the signal ceased. After six days, all contact with the craft was lost.


more:
• Laika's real name was "Kudryavka" (Little Curly). The world had difficulty pronouncing the word, so scientists nicknamed her "Laika", which means "Barker" and is the Russian name given to dogs of her breed (she was a Husky mix). American newspapers dubbed her "Muttnik".
• Soviet space dogs were stray mutts gathered from the streets of Moscow and adapted in centrifuges that simulated the extreme G-forces of take-off.
• Dogs were used because scientists felt that dogs could endure long periods of inactivity better than other animals. As part of their training, they were confined in small boxes for 15-20 days at a time.
• Female dogs were chosen because they did not have to stand and lift a leg to urinate.
• Other dogs in space sent by the USSR following Laika are: Otvazhnaya (Brave One), Snezhinka (Snowflake), Bars (Panther), Lisichka (Little Fox), Belka (Squirrel), Strelka (Little Arrow), Pchelka (Little Bee), Mushka (Little Fly), Damka (Little Lady), Krasavka (Little Beauty), Chernushka (Blackie), Zvezdochka (Little Star), Verterok (Little Wind), Ugolyok (Little Piece of Coal) and several unnamed dogs. .
• The first man in space was Major Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok I on April 12, 1961, more than three years after the dogs paved the way.
• The first woman in space was Valentina Tereshkova on June 16, 1963. The first female in space, of course, was still Laika.
• It was not announced until after the launch that Laika only had enough food and oxygen to live for 10 days and that the spaceship would not return. The public was outraged. Similar debates on animal testing and the use of dogs in scientific experiments continue today.
• Laika's 1,120-pound (508-kilogram) capsule remained in orbit for a total of 162 days, circling the Earth 2570 times before burning up in the atmosphere on April 14, 1958. To anyone watching the sky at that time, she made her final statement as a tiny falling star in the night.
• The Spanish pop group Mecano, the Canadian band Arcade Fire, the band Moxy Früvous and the Swedish band The Cardigans have all written songs called "Laika".
The 2007 video for the Trentemøller song, Moan, was about Laika.


Laika, the first astronaut of the planet Earth, died of fright just after take-off.


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