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Laika was a puppy who lived all alone on the streets of a city, called Moscow. She was homeless, which meant that she had to find her own food and that she had to sleep outside, even when it was snowing or raining. Poor Laika was hungry and cold most of the time - but when she wasn't, and when she was happy, Laika liked to run. When she ran, her tongue flew out behind her, and nobody could catch her.

One day, two scientists met her, and they both felt very bad about her situation. They decided that they'd build her a new home. They told her it wouldn't just be any old home, but a brand-new home in a brand-new rocket ship. They would build it just for her, and there would be a button for doggie treats, they said. Laika could press it with her paw whenever she wanted to feel loved, whenever she wanted to feel extra special.

Laika went into space when she was only three years old.

And that was it.

Nobody ever saw her again. There were rumors that she'd landed on mars, that if you looked hard enough through a telescope you could see her paw-prints resting in the red sand. Others said that she'd tried to make it to Venus, but that her rocket went off course and crashed. Nobody could say for sure.

Worst of all were the rumors that she'd decided to just stay in orbit, circling the earth over and over. What did it mean that she wouldn't leave? There was nothing for her here. Nobody but the scientists had ever loved her, and they had both gone on with their lives. Her life on earth was over. Why would she stay?

Her place was among the stars.

Years later, when people had finally figured out how to build rockets big enough for humans, two astronauts went into space to look for her. They wanted to find out what had happened to the puppy they'd seen in papers when they were children. It was true that no one could say what had happened to Laika, but these astronauts believed they had a way to find her.

They'd chase her footsteps across the sands of mars.