{"id":66816,"date":"2026-10-18T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T13:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=d0ff21699c419064f8f6920a024c283d"},"modified":"2026-10-18T13:52:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T13:52:32","slug":"on-this-day-in-space-oct-18-1963-frances-felicette-becomes-the-1st-cat-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/10\/18\/on-this-day-in-space-oct-18-1963-frances-felicette-becomes-the-1st-cat-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"On this day in space! Oct. 18, 1963: France&#8217;s F\u00e9licette Becomes the 1st Cat in Space! &gt;^..^&lt;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n                            \n                            <article>\n                                <iframe src=\"https:\/\/content.jwplatform.com\/players\/0rG7zZWy.html\" id=\"0rG7zZWy\" title=\"OTD in Space - Oct. 18: F\u00e9licette Becomes the 1st Cat in Space!\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"auto\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><p>On Oct. 18, 1963, a cat went to space! F\u00e9licette was a French \"catstronaut\" who became the first and only feline to fly to space. <\/p><p>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. F\u00e9licette, a stray tuxedo cat from the streets of Paris, was a substitute for another cat named Felix, who somehow escaped on launch day. <\/p><p>So F\u00e9licette went where no cat had ever gone before. She boarded a French V\u00e9ronique AG1 rocket and soared 130 miles above the Earth before safely parachuting back down. <\/p><p>Luckily F\u00e9licette made it home alive and well, unlike many of the other animal astronauts that flew during the space race.<\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:1280px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img id=\"BWpaQgEiuQGzzq38fJH3JM\" name=\"felicette space cat\" alt=\"a black-and-white cat in a small device held down with straps and tubes\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/BWpaQgEiuQGzzq38fJH3JM-1920-80.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">F\u00e9licette, the first cat to fly into space in October 1963, is seen her carrier pre-flight. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons  )<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><h2 id=\"why-it-mattered\">Why it mattered<\/h2><p>F\u00e9licette survived spaceflight, but was short of this world. She was euthanized two months after her recovery so scientists could study her brain. <\/p><p>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 M\u00e9decine A\u00e9ronautique) changed its research to flying monkeys.<\/p><p>F\u00e9licette 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/felicette-first-cat-in-space-statue-unveiled-in-france.html\">sculpture was unveiled<\/a> 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. <\/p><figure role=\"gallery\"><figure><img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/yRaAGoY2MHxhmXJMBB2JrY-1920-80.jpg\" alt=\"F\u00e9licette, the first cat in space (seen here at right)\" \/><figcaption>F\u00e9licette, the first cat in space (seen here at right),   immortalized as a bronze sculpture at the International Space University in Strasbourg. On the left here is one of the first photos of the artwork while in progress, and at the center is a small scale model.<small role=\"credit\">Gill Parker\/Kickstarter\/CNES<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure><figure><img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/ncCkAY4jNCFiQzyGntXd4b-1920-80.jpg\" alt=\"A closer view of F\u00e9licette's face.\" \/><figcaption>A closer view of F\u00e9licette's face in bronze.<small role=\"credit\">Courtesy of Matthew Serge Guy<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure><figure><img src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/wyc6LW58649j7cKkHPuhca-1920-80.jpg\" alt=\"The unveiling of the F\u00e9licette statue honoring the first cat in space.\" \/><figcaption>The unveiling of the F\u00e9licette statue honoring the first cat in space.<small role=\"credit\">Courtesy of ISU\/Photo Expression<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure><p>In addition to the memorial statue, F\u00e9licette has been memorialized on postage stamps issued by Chad and Comoros, both former French colonies.<br><br>Want more space history? Check out our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/tag\/on-this-day-in-space\"><u> <\/u><u><strong>full On This Day In Space Story archive<\/strong><\/u><\/a> and watch our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLCE-SVF9BSTdloyi4P9TmQVTp9Q2zTb27\" > <u><strong>On This Day In Space videos on YouTube.<\/strong><\/u><\/a><\/p><div style=\"min-height: 250px;\">                                <div class=\"kwizly-quiz kwizly-X7b1dO\"><\/div>                            <\/div>                            <script src=\"https:\/\/kwizly.com\/embed\/X7b1dO.js\" async><\/script>\n                                                            <\/article>\n                            \n                        ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Oct. 18, 1963, a cat went to space! F\u00e9licette was a French &#8220;catstronaut&#8221; who became the first and only feline to fly to space. Here&#8217;s why it mattered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":927,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-space-exploration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66816"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67118,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66816\/revisions\/67118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}