Felicette is the only cat to have been sent into space
Cats were sent into space during the early days of space exploration. The most famous of these was a cat named Felicette (sometimes also called Felix), who was launched by the French space program on October 18, 1963, aboard a rocket designed by Wernher von Braun.
Félicette became the first feline to be sent into outer space and successfully returned to Earth. Her flight was part of a series of experiments designed to study the effects of space conditions on living organisms.
Cats were used in space research in various countries, including the United States, the USSR, and France. Their use allowed scientists to study the effects of the space environment on living organisms. Cats were also used to verify the safety of spaceflight conditions for manned missions.
Felicette spent about five minutes in space. She wasn’t able to see Earth from her capsule, which had no windows. During the flight, the little cat experienced 9.5 g of g-force—almost twice as much as the Apollo astronauts did during their flight to the Moon!
It’s important to note that the use of animals in space research raises ethical questions, and after the early missions, the practice of sending animals into space declined significantly. No other cats were sent into Earth’s orbit, and Felicette remains the first and only cat to have been in space.