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Honor given to dogs in Russian space program as movie is newly released in English. Human
space exploration is one of the most significant achievements of the 20th century. However,
as US astronaut Buzz Aldrin once noted, the human astronauts owe a huge debt to the animals
who quietly blazed the trail before them. Russians are honoring the 50th anniversary
of the first canines to be sent into space and have released “Star Dogs,” a 3D animation
about their heroic journey, which was just made available in English this month. Space
dogs Belka and Strelka spent a day in orbit before being recovered upon a successful landing.
Their journey was preceded by pioneer Laika, an originally stray dog who became the first
being to ever orbit the planet and provided valuable data along with proof that a living
being could survive the physical stress of a launch and outer space. Sadly, in what was
already a one-way journey due to the lack of technology at the time to de-orbit, Laika
soon died due to a mechanical failure that caused overheating before she could be euthanized.
In total, five of the 13 dogs Russia sent into space lost their lives in flight.
In the United States beginning space program, many monkeys contributed to the first flights,
most of whom also tragically did not survive for various reasons. When the US Air Force
decided to retire the remaining monkeys from the space program in 1997, Dr. Carole Noon,
founder of the Chimp Sanctuary, was awarded custody of some of the primates and built
a safe haven to allow them to live out their lives in peace. These individual animals are
among the countless many to whom humanity is indebted for its spaceflight achievements.
We are grateful for the sacrifices and unconditional love of the heroic animal helpers who took
on the risks of the unknown to assist humankind. As we appreciate tributes like the movie “Star
Dogs,” we pray that in the present day, all animals will be spared such suffering
as we treat them only with kindness and dignity.
Supreme Master Ching Hai is honoring each of the brave animal astronauts with a posthumous
Shining World Hero Award�