From Laika to Mars: What Pets in Space Say About Us

If humanity builds a colony on Mars, someone will eventually ask a very practical question: Can we bring the dog?

It sounds humorous, but it reflects something fundamental about the human animal bond. According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), over two thirds of U.S. households include a pet, and those relationships shape daily routines, emotional well-being, and long term life decisions. As space agencies and private companies begin seriously planning for long duration habitation beyond Earth, that bond will not disappear. It will follow us.

To understand what pets on Mars might mean, it helps to remember how animals first went to space.

Long before private rockets, animals were our first astronauts. And dogs were central to the earliest chapters of human space exploration.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet space program selected small stray dogs from the streets of Moscow for space research. The reasoning was practical: strays were believed to be resilient, and smaller dogs fit inside cramped capsules more easily.

The most famous was Laika. In 1957, aboard Sputnik 2, she became the first living creature to orbit Earth. According to historical records from NASA, the technology to return a spacecraft from orbit safely had not yet been developed, and Laika did not survive the mission. Her flight, a one-way journey, was a proof of concept during the height of the Cold War.

Other Soviet dogs followed. In 1960, Belka and Strelka orbited Earth aboard Sputnik 5 and safely returned. Their mission demonstrated that living organisms could survive orbital flight and recovery. Strelka later gave birth to puppies, and one was gifted to the family of President John F. Kennedy as a small diplomatic gesture.

Before Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, dogs had already paved the way.

The US took a different approach, using monkeys and chimpanzees like Ham and Enos in early Mercury program tests. Whether dog or primate, the principle was the same. Before we sent ourselves, we sent animals.

While these missions were scientific, they also highlight something highly relevant to today’s pet industry. From the very beginning of space exploration, animals remained living systems requiring nutrition, environmental control, and care under extreme conditions. In many ways, these early programs were the first examples of applied animal science in non-terrestrial environments.

Human spaceflight was experimental and dangerous. Radiation exposure, high acceleration forces, microgravity, and life support systems all carried enormous uncertainty. Animals allowed engineers to study biological responses before risking human lives.

It is easy to judge those missions through a modern ethical lens, especially knowing that some flights, like Laika’s, were never intended to be survivable. It is harder to deny their role in enabling human spaceflight and changing our understanding of what bodies can endure beyond Earth.

Today, astronauts do not bring pets to the International Space Station. Every kilogram launched into orbit is expensive. Air, water, and food are tightly controlled. The ISS is a laboratory, not a neighborhood.

A permanent settlement would be different. A lunar base or Martian city would need to function as much as a neighborhood as a research outpost. In that context, the question of pets in space becomes less about novelty and more about human performance.

Long-duration missions are already known to create psychological strain. NASA and other space agencies have documented the effects of isolation, confinement, and distance from Earth on crew’s well-being. On Earth, companion animals have been shown to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and improve emotional resilience. Future space habitats may deliberately include animals as part of the mental health infrastructure.

On Earth, companion animals reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, and improve emotional well-being. Future space habitats may deliberately include animals as part of the mental health infrastructure.

In that scenario, the first dog on Mars may not be there primarily for science. It may be there for morale.

Of course, the challenges would be substantial. Microgravity reduces bone density and muscle mass in humans. Radiation exposure beyond Earth’s magnetosphere is significantly higher. Closed life support systems would need to account for the added oxygen demand, water usage, and waste production associated with keeping animals in a sealed environment.

In a sealed habitat, every organism becomes part of the life-support and logistics equation. There would be practical questions about reproduction, veterinary care, and species-specific nutrition in an off-world environment.

Would pet food be manufactured inside a Martian habitat? Would hydroponic agriculture supply protein sources? Would insect meal, already explored as a sustainable ingredient on Earth, become the most practical option beyond it?

Suddenly, pet nutrition becomes part of space systems engineering.

The history of dogs in the Soviet space program reminds us of something important: We have never explored space alone. Animals have been part of our ambition; sometimes as pioneers, sometimes as sacrifices, but always as companions to human curiosity.

In the past, they went as test subjects sent ahead of us. In the future, if we bring them, they may go as true companions we choose to live beside.

If humanity establishes cities on the Moon or Mars and chooses to bring animals with us, it will not be because we need them to survive. It will be because we refuse to leave behind the relationships that define us.

And if that day comes, somewhere inside a pressurized habitat under a red sky, someone will be debating protein levels, calcium balance, and ingredient sourcing for a Martian-grown diet.

While pets on Mars may seem distant, the underlying challenges are already relevant today. Sustainability, alternative proteins, supply chain resilience, and precision nutrition are active areas of innovation across the global pet food industry.

Whether on Earth or beyond it, the future of pet nutrition will be shaped by the ability to adapt, innovate, and solve complex problems. At BSM Partners, we work with clients to navigate these challenges, helping translate emerging science and novel ingredients into practical, market-ready solutions.

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About the Author

Bill Bouldin is a Product Innovation Manager at BSM Partners. He has experience in product development and quality in pet and human food. Bill enjoys woodworking in his spare time.