World’s first space cat immortalised in a statue

Abronze statue of Félicette — the world’s first and only cat to have travelled into space — may soon get erected in France, thanks to a fundraising campaign launched to immortalise the legacy of the astro feline.

On October 18 in 1963, Félicette was launched atop a Veronique AG1 rocket and flew nearly 157 kilometres above Earth, briefly experiencing weightlessness. 15 minutes later, she safely returned to Earth by parachuting down in her little space capsule.

However, Félicette’s legacy has long been overshadowed by the many dogs, monkeys, and chimps that were sent into space in the 1960s.

“Around six months ago, I came across a tea towel commemorating the 50th anniversary of the cat who went into space,” said Matthew Serge Guy, who started the campaign on the fund-raising website Kickstarter.

“There was no name for the cat on the towel nor did it resemble Félicette, and it was illustrated in a constructivist style, naturally leading me to think it was Russia who sent a cat into space,” Guy said.

“After googling it, I became fascinated with Félicette’s story — how it had been forgotten over the years and (like the design of the tea towel) misattributed. It felt like something big should be done to right these wrongs,” he added.

“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 into space at all,” according to the Kickstarter campaign, which has so far raised over 24,000 pounds.

In the early days of spaceflight research, scientists sent animals into space in order to understand the impact of lack of gravity on human astronauts.

Reports indicate Félicette returned to the French space programme’s laboratory for study, after which she was put to sleep in order to further analyse the electrodes implanted in her brain.

Noting that all animals that have been sent into space were unwilling participants in these experiments, the Kickstarter campaign stated, “This statue should serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by animal astronauts throughout the Space Race.”

ALTHOUGH OTHER ANIMALS THAT WENT INTO SPACE ARE WELLKNOWN WITHIN POPULAR CULTURE, VERY FEW PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT A CAT WENT INTO SPACE AT ALL