On August 19, 1960, the first-ever spaceflight of living creatures with a successful return to Earth took place. On this day, the Soviet Union launched the spacecraft "Sputnik-5" into orbit with the now-legendary space dogs, Belka and Strelka, on board. After returning from orbit, Belka and Strelka attracted significant attention from the global community. Books were written about them, documentaries and animated films were made, and stamps featuring their images were issued. This stellar odyssey paved the way for humans to venture into space. The contribution of these four-legged astronauts to the development of the Soviet space program cannot be overstated.