Le Chat Stuff: French Cats in Space

“To boldly go where no noms have gone before”

In 1963, France – for some unknown reason – decided it would be a cool idea to send a cat into space. French rocket propulsion engineers interviewed thousands of prospective space chats (or les chatstronauts) for this historic mission.

Unfortunately, this took quite a while, since most French cats can be found eating cheese, drinking wine, and smoking tons of cigarettes at coffeehouses. However, one heroic cat – Felix – was found at the gym doing push-ups, running on a tiny treadmill, and lifting weights. He was the clearly the perfect specimen for spaceflight, and on October 18, 1963, he became the first ever space kitty. Felix was recovered very much alive and meowing.


Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This Space Available blog was incorporated into the National Space Society’s blog. The content of Emily’s blog can be accessed via the This Space Available blog category.

Note: The views expressed in This Space Available are those of the author and should not be considered as representing the positions or views of the National Space Society.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Picture of Emily Carney

Emily Carney

2 thoughts on “Le Chat Stuff: French Cats in Space”

Leave a Comment

Search
Categories
future 1

Don't Miss a Beat!

Be the first to know when new articles are posted!

Follow Us On Social Media

JOIN THE
GREATEST ADVENTURE

Give The Gift Of Space: Membership For Friends and Family

Book Review

Archives

ISDC 2024:
A NEW SPACE AGE

International Space Development Conference May 23rd-26th, 2024

FEATURED BLOG

Image of Kalpana One space settlement courtesy Bryan Versteeg spacehabs com $32 000 in Cash Awards Given for Best Space Related Business Plans Deadline March

Category Nonfiction Reviewed by John J Vester Title Nuclear Rockets To the Moon and Mars Author Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried Format Paperback Kindle Pages 270

Partially Successful Flight Reached Space and Demonstrated New Hot Staging System The National Space Society congratulates SpaceX on the second test of its Starship Super

Ad Astra the NSS quarterly print digital and audio magazine has won a 2023 MARCOM Gold Award The awards are given yearly for 8220 Excellence

By Jennifer Muntz NSS Member Coordinator On October 10th an inspiring breakfast event took flight at the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space

By Grant Henriksen NSS Policy Committee Benefit sharing is a concept that refers to the distribution of benefits derived from the exploration and use of

People residing and working in space space settlements or on long duration space flights will need to produce infrastructures and food to maintain healthy lifestyles

Image Artist s concept of the Blue Moon lander Credit Blue Origin Second Human Landing System Contract Encourages Competition and Innovation The National Space Society