Posted on 10/19/2026 12:38:37 PM PDT by Red Badger
On Oct. 18, 1963, a cat went to space! Félicette was a French "catstronaut" who became the first and only feline to fly to space. Here's why it mattered.
On Oct. 18, 1963, a cat went to space! Félicette was a French "catstronaut" who became the first and only feline to fly to space.
While the U.S. and Soviet Union were busy launching primates, dogs and humans, the French decided to join the space race by launching a cat. Félicette, a stray tuxedo cat from the streets of Paris, was a substitute for another cat named Felix, who somehow escaped on launch day.
So Félicette went where no cat had ever gone before. She boarded a French Véronique AG1 rocket and soared 130 miles above the Earth before safely parachuting back down.
Luckily Félicette made it home alive and well, unlike many of the other animal astronauts that flew during the space race.
Félicette, the first cat to fly into space in October 1963, is seen her carrier pre-flight. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Why it mattered
Félicette survived spaceflight, but was short of this world. She was euthanized two months after her recovery so scientists could study her brain.
A second cat was launched by the French on Oct. 24, but its flight did not go so well, veering off course. When the cat was found a day later, it was discovered it have died as a result of the journey. From there on, CERMA (Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique) changed its research to flying monkeys.
Félicette may have become a footnote to history had it not been for a crowdfunded effort to raise a statue in her memory nearly 60 years later. The sculpture was unveiled in 2019 at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. European astronauts Helen Sharman, Paolo Nespoli and Reinhold Ewald were on hand for its reveal.
To this day, Félicette and her less-fortunate astro-cat classmate remain the only felines to fly on a rocket.
In 2013, reports surfaced that Iran was planning to send a cat into space as soon as the following year. By all accounts, though, that never happened.
A closer view of Félicette's face in bronze. (Image credit: Courtesy of Matthew Serge Guy)
The unveiling of the Félicette statue honoring the first cat in space. (Image credit: Courtesy of ISU/Photo Expression)
In addition to the memorial statue, Félicette has been memorialized on postage stamps issued by Chad and Comoros, both former French colonies.
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MEOW!......................
BUt, I'd like to know how to say that in French...
MACRON!.....................
They could have chosen better wording. This sounds like The Wizard of Oz.
Felix the cat
The wonderful, wonderful cat
He knew to run out of that place
They tried to shoot him into space!
Darn! And all these years, I thought the first cat in orbit was my girlfriend’s cat, who attacked my feet as I slept!
I guess that cat beat these cats: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Ronald_McNair%2C_Guion_Bluford%2C_and_Fred_Gregory_%28S79-36529%2C_restoration%29.jpg/250px-Ronald_McNair%2C_Guion_Bluford%2C_and_Fred_Gregory_%28S79-36529%2C_restoration%29.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=parser&utm_content=thumbnail
I would love to see a cat let loose in a zero-g environment. After its initial panic, I’ll bet it would be really graceful. Just stay away from its claws!
“Scientists jusy love to kill everything for “study”
Observing the cst’s behavior,blood tests urine and feces anslysis,fine
Why always kill?
I lost my beloved Taffy to the veternarian rabies “test” when we took her in for having convulsions. He did not tell me the “test” required killing my pet.That was about 60 years ago and I still resent those bastards that do what they consider best without full explanation or consideration of your thoughts.And I mean in ALL situations.
When the cat parachuted down, did she land on her feet?
Why did they think that they would learn anything at all from cutting the cat apart to examine its brain? I bet when they made their notes about their observations, they used the French term for unremarkable a lot.
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