Little dogs in a big space... They were launched into weightlessness one after another. It was the only way to discover what problems and complexities the one who flies next will face — the human. Dozens of dogs’ lives were sacrificed to the science and safety of people. The pioneers of Soviet space, the first to fly around our planet, Belka and Strelka, became sym bols of the breakthrough beyond the limits of gravity. Colossal work preceded their flight. Why were these dogs chosen for the experiments, how were they trained for flights, what was waiting for those which could return alive?