The Final Frontier

 

To go where no one has gone before.

Homo sapiens are a curious bunch. What is behind that tree? What is over that mountain? What is up there on the moon?

We are never satisfied at where we are and what we have. We’d still be in the Garden of Eden.

After ‘man’ had grown tired of exploring the land and water, there was space.

Being of the competitive nature the two super powers, who had the know how to created rockets topped with bombs, decided to put a radio on top of one and blast it into space.

This was where the Internet started.

After learning once through the atmosphere the payload could obit the earth. There were all kinds of electronic gizmos but could a human live in the space environment?

But before putting a baby in a spaceship and shot it into the great unknown, we picked man’s best friend, a dog.

 

This is the story of Laika.

Laika (Russian: Лайка; c. 1954 – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog that became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. ... Laika died within hours from overheating, possibly caused by a failure of the central R-7 sustainer to separate from the payload.

 

Imagine what this pup went through. How does your dog handle going to the vet? How would you feel stuffing your puppy into a trashcan and blasting it off into space? What was the fear of this dog without being able to move and no human around to beg for treats?  What were the last thoughts of this panting canine before succumbing to man’s experiment?

 

There were other animals sent into space. Some survived. Experimental test before a human astronaut climbed into a cramped capsule for a view of our home from outside.

 

Was this humane behavior? What does the good book say?

 

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-28

 

“Man has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked are cruel.” This important verse suggests a Biblical division of people into two distinct types – those who are “righteous” and just are kind to their animals, and those who are “wicked” and are cruel to creatures under their care. Genesis 24:19

 

“Righteous man cares about his animal’s health”.

Proverbs 12:10

 

Even on solid ground, we, as a species, are not very kind to our furry and feathered fellow occupants. We call those who are less likely to kill us for mistreatment, Pets!

The others we mount their heads on our walls, make rugs and coats out of their skins, pull them out of the water to suffocate and eat their flesh.

Now the International space station is alive with insects and bugs for scientific and medical experiments.

Once we figured out how to circle the globe, we raced to the moon. The U.S. conquered the moon first and planted a flag, but could not make it into the 51^st state. Instead we picked up some rocks, and then left a pile of trash. Was it worth the money?

 

It seems we are always trying to go faster and further and higher and deeper, so the futile experiment goes on. Going to a place where a pinprick would mean certain death.

Kaila didn’t know that. Still she was sacrificed to become a national icon.