Same feelings here. I adored space and space travel as a kid, and I did many school projects on them (and became a pilot later in life), but the one aspect abo

Same feelings here. I adored space and space travel as a kid, and I did many school projects on them (and became a pilot later in life), but the one aspect about space travel that always left a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was when I read about the animals they sent on one way missions. I could rationalise with the brave astronauts and cosmonauts who undertook some of these missions, because as a rational thinking human, you can weigh the risks and make a decision to go, knowing full well that you may never come back. But a dog or chimpanzee really has no way to say "Umm, actually now you mention it, NO, I'd rather not be sealed in a capsule and blasted into space - never to walk on a grassy field again. I'd much rather you chose another dog while I happily gnaw on this bone right here..." I was somewhat assuaged back then by the statements made that Laika was fed a poisoned tablet after a certain time, and passed away painlessly. But a few years ago when I read those declassified documents detailing how she actually died under horrendous circumstances, my heart broke all over again...