Félicette

Félicette is the only cat ever to have gone into space^[1] (by the French in 1963) and survived. It was the first cat to be sent into space by any country.

History

On 3 November 1957, the Soviets sent Laika, a dog, on Sputnik 2. The dog was a stray found on the streets of Moscow. It died in space, and was the first living animal to enter space. Enos (chimpanzee) was the first primate that orbited the Earth on 29 November 1961, sent by the Americans (NASA). The chimpanzee survived the flight, and orbited the Earth in one hour and 28 minutes. In May 1961 the Americans had sent a human into space, but would send the human into orbit in February 1962. The Russians did it in april 1961, sending Yuri Gagarin into space.

Space mission

Rocket type that the cat took off inside

The French had around fourteen cats in training (such as a centrifuge and a compression chamber) in 1963. The animals were being trained by the Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA).

On 18 October 1963 at 8:09am, on the French sounding rocket (for research) Véronique AGI 47 (made in Vernon, Eure, Upper Normandy or Haute-Normandie), Félicette, a female cat, was sent into space. Félicette was a black and white female cat from the streets of Paris.^[2] Véronique came from the German WWII Aggregate (rocket family) (A8), and also lead to the French Diamant satellite launcher.

The Veronique AGI was developed for the International Geophysical Year (Année géophysique internationale) in 1957 for biological research. Seven, out of the fifteen made, would carry live animals.

It was a non-orbital flight, and lasted fifteen minutes, reaching a height of 97 miles. The cat was recovered safely after the capsule parachuted to Earth.

References

• Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle, page 220

External links

• Famous Felines