space dogs.

'Bolik', and 'Substitute for Missing Bolik'* are just two of the great Soviet space dogs. Bolik's replacement was rounded up in Moscow when Bolik escaped, not wishing to be sent into orbit in a tiny capsule with nutritious goo for food, no room to turn round and just a saucer-sized window from which she could get a view of the earth no dog should ever have. The first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, was surely one of the bravest men to have ever lived, but he couldn't have done it had it not been for Bolik and her friends.

There were actually more than 50 space-dogs rocketed up by the Soviet Union at the beginning of the space race, in various Sputniks, at a time when the USSR's space agency was years ahead of NASA. Bolik's most famous friends were perhaps Belka and Strelka, two little jack-russelish strays that I had the pleasure of meeting last Sunday (in taxidermied form… much like meeting Lenin really). Belka and Strelka returned safely to earth, as did most of the other space-dogs including Little Curly and Little Blackie. Despite their survival, it's hard for a dog lover to be too enthusiastic about these Soviet efforts when you see the size of the capsule these poor little buggers were crammed into for their missions.

At least they are now suitably commemorated. Above the Moscow Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is a vast obelisk and the wee beasts are the first thing you see when you actually get inside. The Explorers of the Cosmos monument was actually put up following the successful launch of the world's first satellite, but I do wonder whether a little bronze Bolik and a Substitute ought to have been added to its crowning protuberance after their grandest of adventures.

*remember to check your balls.