Sputnik 4

March 9, 1961.

The world’s gaze again turned to the sky as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 4.

Sputnik 4 was the first test flight of the Vostok spacecraft, a class of single-pilot spacecraft. On board were a mannequin called Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, mice, frogs, and the first guinea pig in space.

Sputnik 4 was launched at 6:29 UTC. It successfully went into a low Earth orbit. Only intended to go around the Earth once, Sputnik 4 was then deorbited and reentered the atmosphere over the Soviet Union. The spacecraft landed at 8:09 UTC. All animals were safely recovered.