Korabl-Sputnik 3 (or Sputnik 6) was launched on December 1, 1960, as a test flight for the Vostok spacecraft, carrying two dogs named Pcholka and Mushka ("little bee" and "little fly"), along with a television camera and scientific instruments. The mission successfully placed the spacecraft into low Earth orbit and lasted one day before it was deorbited ahead of the planned recovery. The deorbit burn commenced at 07:15 UTC on December 2, but the engine failed to cut off as intended, causing the spacecraft's fuel to burn completely. This led to a reentry trajectory that could have allowed foreign powers to examine the capsule. To prevent this, an explosive charge was detonated during reentry, resulting in the disintegration of the spacecraft and the deaths of both Pcholka and Mushka. They were the last dogs to die in a Soviet space mission, following Laika, who was never expected to survive her flight on Sputnik 2, and Chaika and Lisichka, who perished when their "Korabl Sputnik" rocket disintegrated just 20 seconds after launch.
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| A cover depicting the Pchyolka and Mushka space flight launch, postmarked in Minsk on December 1, 1960. |
(Reference from
Korabl-Sputnik 3)
