Live data from Hacker News

Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

smithsonianmag.com

161–170 of 185 posts

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems more humane than factory farming (shruggy emoji).

I don’t really agree. Farming meets a basic human need. The food chain is the food chain, after all. Laika died for purely political purposes, to show how superior the Russian space program was.

Why wouldn’t one send an animal to space before sending a person for the first time? What does politics have to do with this?

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll take the 30 million dead over a relatively small number of dogs killed as the greater evil thanks.

It wasn't one or the other, it was both 30 million dead AND some unknown number of dogs killed that very likely didn't make a meaningful difference in the Soviet war effort. Congrats on getting down to the level of your enemy, I guess.

Presumably every dog saved a man's life or a few. Doesn't it sound reasonable to send even all the dogs to bomb tanks?

The real problem was that the training they did was so superficial that the dogs made more harm than good.

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#165

Laika's story is far more heartbreaking. Everyone involved with handling Laika hated to send her to death. From a technician who was the last person to see Laika, > One of the technicians preparing the capsule before final liftoff stated that "after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight."[16] One of the…

It’s so sad because they basically had to send a really friendly, docile dog, because a meanie wouldn’t be suitable. Weirdly I see this as one of science’s great failures. Hard to pin down why especially when the average pig is treated far worse.

It was a feral/stray dog they got from pest control.

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#166
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe both of those things are shitty and it isn’t mutually exclusive. Sometimes the binary thinking here is really special.

I'll take the 30 million dead over a relatively small number of dogs killed as the greater evil thanks.

[deleted]

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#168
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mythical "they murdered A GAZILLION PEOPLE". Yeah, totally made up numbers made by anti-soviet historians that inflated numbers and considered natural causes as "murder". You can say what you want about the Soviet Union, but thinking that they ORDERED the killing of millions is complete derangement. Were there economic problems and famines? Yes, of course, all countries with a rural economy are exposed to famines…

> The mythical "they murdered A GAZILLION PEOPLE". Yeah, totally made up numbers made by anti-soviet historians that inflated numbers and considered natural causes as "murder". Tankie with his "made up numbers" again. What next are you going to say? Holocaust is made up to mud the name of the glorious Reich that lifted Germany out of poverty?

The numbers are literally made up by an organization called "The victims of communism memorial foundation", that was literally started by the US government with the express purpose of spreading propaganda.

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#169
post #90
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mythical "they murdered A GAZILLION PEOPLE". Yeah, totally made up numbers made by anti-soviet historians that inflated numbers and considered natural causes as "murder". You can say what you want about the Soviet Union, but thinking that they ORDERED the killing of millions is complete derangement. Were there economic problems and famines? Yes, of course, all countries with a rural economy are exposed to famines…

Fewer than a quarter of a million people died in both atomic attacks combined, including post-war illnesses. Why is your desire to defend the Soviet Union more important to you than accurate information?

Dude saying less than 250000 civilians died is not the defense you think it is

Re: Laika, the space dog, and her one-way trip into orbit (2018)

#170
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mythical "they murdered A GAZILLION PEOPLE". Yeah, totally made up numbers made by anti-soviet historians that inflated numbers and considered natural causes as "murder". You can say what you want about the Soviet Union, but thinking that they ORDERED the killing of millions is complete derangement. Were there economic problems and famines? Yes, of course, all countries with a rural economy are exposed to famines…

Bringing up the atrocities committed by others as a defence of Russia is an interesting angle. You know that more than one country can do bad? The killing of millions is hard to dispute. Take just one incident, the Holomodor. That engineered catastrophe killed millions and Russia now appears to be trying to wipe out Ukraine again. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor

It's disingenuous to pretend all of the USSR criticism in this thread is in good faith. Yes, multiple countries can be bad, but clearly one of them is getting way more airtime than the others.
Post reply on HN