Laika

Laika, a Russian dog taken off the Moscow streets, was the first animal (not counting microbes) in space. She rode the Sputnik-2 satellite inside a specially prepared capsule. The satellite was launched on November 3rd, 1957.

I think the best name given to her was "Limonchik,"
or "Little Lemon"

Laika, also called "Little Bug," "Little Curly," and "Little Lemon" by the Soviet scientists, was found in the Moscow streets. This was a deliberate choice by the Soviet space program, since they reasoned that the dogs on Moscow's streets would have gotten used to long periods of bitter cold and low food. Two other dogs were also trained, one as the backup passenger in case Laika fell ill, and one as the "control dog" to keep on the ground. Laika was described as "quiet and charming" by the program leader, and never quarreled with the other dogs. She, along with the other dogs, was trained using a centrifuge and accustomed to the noise of a spaceship launch—although the training did tend to double the pulses of the dogs.

Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky took Laika home to play with his children before the launch, later writing that her life was going to end so soon and that he wanted "to do something nice for her."

The capsule that Laika was placed in had been roughly designed and built to the best of the USSR's ability with the extremely limited time that they had. The capsule was designed within four weeks and built during this time. As such, the temperature control did not function adequately, since part of the thermal insulation tore off during the launch. Laika died between five and seven hours into the journey as a result of overheating. Her sacrifice to science was not forgotten, and she is memorialized on the Monument to the Conquerors of Space, located in Moscow.