Félicette, the First Feline to Journey into Space, Finally Receives the Recognition She Deserves

During the 1950s and '60s, scientists across the globe launched a wide range of animals into space. The goal was to understand how space travel would affect living beings, with hopes that humans could eventually make the journey too.

The Soviet Union sent a stray dog from Moscow, Laika, into space, later hailing her as a national hero. Similarly, Ham the chimpanzee was posthumously honored at the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico for his vital role in the U.S. space program.

France made history by sending the first (and so far only) cat into space. Unfortunately, her achievement was largely forgotten until a few years ago.

So, who exactly was this spacefaring feline hero?

Félicette was one of 14 cats recruited for the French space program. Each underwent brain surgery to have electrodes implanted and experienced astronaut training similar to that of humans. The French scientists chose cats because they already had extensive neurological data on them.

After completing her training, the small tuxedo cat Félicette was selected for the mission, partly because of her calm demeanor (and perhaps because the other cats gained too much weight during their training).

On October 18, 1963, Félicette (officially designated C 341) was strapped into a Véronique rocket and launched from Algeria, reaching nearly 100 miles (161 kilometers) above Earth. She experienced five minutes of weightlessness, followed by the terrifying, spinning descent via parachute.

Just 15 minutes after the launch, the flight was over. A helicopter team rushed to the landing site, opened the capsule, and discovered that Félicette was alive and in good health.

Two months later, as a reward for her bravery, scientists chose to euthanize her – they wanted to study her body to understand the effects of space travel. After that, Félicette's story faded into obscurity.

Her memory was so lost that in the 1990s, when three former French colonies chose to honor her by issuing stamps featuring her image, they mistakenly referred to her as a male by using the wrong name – Felix.

However, thanks to a smart Kickstarter campaign, the truth about her story has finally been told. Matt Guy, from London, stumbled upon Félicette's tale and was shocked that she hadn't already received the recognition she deserved for her incredible achievement.

"Over the last 54 years, the story of the first and only cat to go to space has been largely forgotten. She deserves a proper memorial," Guy wrote on Kickstarter in 2017. His campaign raised about $57,000, which was enough to fund a 5-foot (1.5-meter) bronze statue in her honor.

On December 18, 2019, the statue was finally revealed at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. Félicette’s bronze figure stands proudly atop a globe, her sharp eyes gazing upwards towards the skies where she once soared higher than any cat in history.