Félicette, the first cat to fly into space in October 1963, is seen her carrier pre-flight. A crowdfunded campaign will erect a memorial to honor the Félicette in her hometown of Paris, France.
Posted on 11/17/2017 4:45:12 PM PST by Elderberry
The first cat to launch into space and live to meow about it is getting her own monument — thanks to the crowdfunded support of more than 1,100 of her fans.
A campaign on the website Kickstarter on Friday (Nov. 17) successfully raised more than $57,000 to create "a proper memorial" for Félicette, a female black-and-white stray that lifted off on a French rocket for a sub-orbital spaceflight on Oct. 18, 1963.
The funds will underwrite the sculpture and erection of a statue for Félicette in her home city of Paris. [The History of Animals in Space (Infographic)]
"Although other animals in space — such as Laika the dog and Ham the chimpanzee — are well-known within popular culture and have lasting memorials, very few people are aware that a cat went to space at all. Now it's time for 'The Astrocat' to get the memorial she rightly deserves," wrote Matthew Serge Guy of London, who came up with the idea for the statue and created the Kickstarter campaign.
Chosen by scientists out of a trainee class of 13 other cat-stronaut hopefuls, Félicette was loaded into the nose cone of a French Veronique sounding rocket in Algeria, and sent soaring 97 miles (156 kilometers) above the Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Félicette, the first cat to fly into space in October 1963, is seen her carrier pre-flight. A crowdfunded campaign will erect a memorial to honor the Félicette in her hometown of Paris, France.
Only cat to have gone into space. The Russian Laika was the first dog.
I had a kitty that looked just like that. She was smart, wild and crazy!
Poor kitty!
Felicette — what a sweet name.
A commemorative "autographed" postcard produced by CNES, the French space agency, pictures and celebrates Félicette.
Credit: CNES
Those Tuxedo cats are really smart. My girl was so funny too.
A cat accompanies an astronaut on the first flight to the moon. Soon after they arrive, the astronaut finds himself in trouble, so the cat must come to the rescue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
