Back when scientists knew nothing about space travel, back when rockets were new, a group of Russian cosmonauts rode rockets to the edge of space and into earth orbit. These pioneer space travelers were dogs, space dogs of the Soviet space program. For 15 years, space dogs occupied the world stage, blazing trails as the first astronauts. Their flights taught scientists how living beings reacted to rocket travel and tested the equipment that would be used for human space flight. The age of the space dog extended from the first launch in 1951 until the final, record-breaking dog flight in 1966. Some dogs won world-wide fame. Most of them, however, worked-and died-in obscurity. They were all pioneers of space travel.

And no one has ever told their story. Until now. Space Dogs dramatizes the training of the dogs, the harrowing early flights, the tragic accidents, the fame that came to the program after the launch of Laika in Sputnik 2, and the final flights leading up to the first manned flight. Space Dogs includes never-before-published photos from the archives of Novosti, the Russian News Agency.