MIR Cosmonauts found Sputnik 2

MIR COSMONAUTS FOUND ANCIENT SATELLITE

Kosmodrome, Russia (AT) - Russian officials disclosed that a long lost
Soviet satellite and not a resupply tug was the vehicle which crashed
into the side of the MIR space station in 1998.


The accident focused media attention on the thirteen year old
facility's continuing problems. However the announcement that the
object that crashed into the side of MIR was in fact Sputnik 2 rocked
the scientific community.


The satellite was believed to have burned up in the atmosphere several
days after its 1957 launch. Russian scientists now admit that it had
remained in high orbit for almost forty years until it impacted into
the side of the MIR space station two years ago.


Sputnik 2 achieved great fame for being the first vehicle to carry
life into outer space. The one thousand pound spacecraft put "Laika",
a 98 lb. Rottweiler/Terrier mix into earth orbit. Laika was reported
to have perished when the satellite's thermal cooling unit
malfunctioned.


Declassified documents reveal that for the cosmonauts of MIR the
arrival of Sputnik 2 proved to be fortunate. Cosmonauts found the
frozen body of Laika within its ancient container and used to dog's
still fresh hide to complement their own food stuffs. The MIR food tug
had malfunctioned the week before and had left them with a dwindling
supply of food. "The consumption of Laika probably saved their lives,"
admitted a top Russian scientist.


Laika was awarded the Order of Lenin posthumously in 1958. It was
announced at a press conference yesterday that she would now receive
the Order of Yeltsin for her timely assistance of the MIR cosmonauts.
But that was not the final honor bestowed upon the cosmic canine.
Vowing not to let her bravery be forgotten, the scientist vowed to
clone DNA from Laika's body, "so that we might have many more such
animals to bring into outer space and to feed our men and women."

On Apr 2, 12:29*am, Seafort wrote:
MIR COSMONAUTS FOUND ANCIENT SATELLITE

Kosmodrome, Russia (AT) - Russian officials disclosed that a long lost
Soviet satellite and not a resupply tug was the vehicle which crashed
into the side of the MIR space station in 1998.

The accident focused media attention on the thirteen year old
facility's continuing problems. However the announcement that the
object that crashed into the side of MIR was in fact Sputnik 2 rocked
the scientific community.

The satellite was believed to have burned up in the atmosphere several
days after its 1957 launch. Russian scientists now admit that it had
remained in high orbit for almost forty years until it impacted into
the side of the MIR space station two years ago.

Sputnik 2 achieved great fame for being the first vehicle to carry
life into outer space. The one thousand pound spacecraft put "Laika",
a 98 lb. Rottweiler/Terrier mix into earth orbit. Laika was reported
to have perished when the satellite's thermal cooling unit
malfunctioned.

Declassified documents reveal that for the cosmonauts of MIR the
arrival of Sputnik 2 proved to be fortunate. Cosmonauts found the
frozen body of Laika within its ancient container and used to dog's
still fresh hide to complement their own food stuffs. The MIR food tug
had malfunctioned the week before and had left them with a dwindling
supply of food. "The consumption of Laika probably saved their lives,"
admitted a top Russian scientist.

Laika was awarded the Order of Lenin posthumously in 1958. It was
announced at a press conference yesterday that she would now receive
the Order of Yeltsin for her timely assistance of the MIR cosmonauts.
But that was not the final honor bestowed upon the cosmic canine.
Vowing not to let her bravery be forgotten, the scientist vowed to
clone DNA from Laika's body, "so that we might have many more such
animals to bring into outer space and to feed our men and women."

happy april fools day