Félicette

Félicette () was a stray Parisian cat that became the first feline launched into space on 18October 1963 as part of the French space program. She was one of 14 female cats trained for spaceflight. The cats had electrodes implanted into their skulls to monitor their neurological activity throughout the flight. During the flight, electrical impulses were applied to the brain and a leg to stimulate responses. The capsule was recovered 13 minutes after the rocket was ignited. Most of the data from the mission was of good quality, and Félicette survived the flight but was euthanised two months later for the examination of her brain.

Félicette was designated C 341 before the flight, and after the flight, the media gave her the name Félix, after Félix the Cat.
(CERMA) modified this to the feminine Félicette and adopted it as her official name. Postage stamps worldwide commemorated her, and a statue with her likeness is on display at the International Space University. France's feline biological rocket payloads were preceded by rats and followed by monkeys.

Background

On 14 June 1949, a U.S. suborbital flight carried the first mammal into space, a Rhesus monkey named Albert II. On 3November 1957, the Soviet Union launched Laika, a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow, into space on Sputnik 2. She died in space but was the first animal to orbit the Earth. Brazilian Army colonel Manuel dos Santos Lage planned to launch a cat named Flamengo aboard the Félix I rocket on 1 January 1959, but the flight was cancelled over ethical concerns regarding the use of a cat. On 31January 1961, as part of Project Mercury, the chimpanzee Ham became the first hominid launched into space for a suborbital flight. On 29November 1961, Enos became the second chimpanzee launched into space, and third hominid after cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov, to achieve Earth orbit.

The French rocket program began in 1961. Flights of the Véronique rocket had been reinstated in 1959 and were run by the Comité des Recherches Spatiales (CRS). France's base in the Sahara launched a rat named Hector on 22February 1961, causing France to become the third country to launch animals into space. Hector had electrodes implanted on his skull so neurological activity could be monitored. Two rockets with rat payloads followed on 15 and 18October. French scientists wanted to use larger mammals and chose cats since they already had significant neurological data.

Mission

Selection and training

In 1963, (CERMA) purchased 14 cats from a pet dealer for testing, with the individual animals selected based on their temperament; all of the cats were female, for their calmer demeanor. The cats were unnamed before the launch to reduce the likelihood that the scientists would become attached to them. All of the cats had permanent electrodes surgically implanted into their brain to assess neurological activity. Some of the cats' spaceflight training was similar to training for humans. This was carried out by CERMA and included using the high-G centrifuge three-axis chair with simulated rocket noise. Cat-specific training included confinement in their container and experience withstanding the restraint cloth. The animals trained for about two months; this limit was set by the risk of electrode polarization.

Flight

The crew began preparing at the launch site on 8October 1963. On 11October, the heading beacon was tested by placing it in a helicopter and tracking it with ground stations. On the 12th, the telemetry in the nose cone was unsuccessfully tested, followed by a successful test the next day. There were issues testing the homing beacon on the 14th and 15th, but all electronics functioned satisfactorily on 16 October.

On 17October, six feline finalists were selected as candidates for the flight, and a tuxedo cat with the designation C341 was chosen for the flight on launch day, along with a backup. Weighing in at , C341 was selected as the best of the six finalists due to her calm demeanor and appropriate weight. Electrodes were attached to her forward left and right rear leg to monitor cardiac activity. Nine electrodes had previously been implanted on her skull: two in the front sinus, one in the somatic area, two in the ventral hippocampal, two in the reticular area, and two in the association cortex. Two electrodes were glued to a foreleg so electrical impulses could be used to stimulate them during the flight. Two microphones, one on her chest and one on the nose cone of the rocket, monitored her breathing.
The launch vehicle used was the Véronique AGI47 sounding rocket, made in Vernon, Haute-Normandie. The Véronique rocket came from the German World War II Aggregate rocket family, developed for International Geophysical Year () in 1957 for biological research.

On 18October 1963 at 8:09am, C341 was launched into space from the Centre interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux site in Algeria. The mission was a sub-orbital flight and lasted 13 minutes. The rocket engine burned for 42seconds on ascent and C341 experienced 9.5  g of acceleration. The nose cone separated from the rocket before reaching a height of and the cat was subjected to five minutes of weightlessness. Prior to parachute deployment, spin and vibration on the nose cone caused 7 g of acceleration. The parachutes deployed 8 minutes and 55 seconds into the launch, applying 9 g. Thirteen minutes after the rocket was ignited, a helicopter arrived at the payload. C341 was recovered safely, and the mission made her the first cat to reach space.

Results and aftermath

High-quality data was recorded throughout the flight, other than the reticular measurements and data recorded during reentry. Electrical shocks were administered to C341 at a higher rate than intended. She was vigilant during the ascent phase due to being a payload in a rocket. Her heart rate slowed during the microgravity phase, and her breathing became nominal. The turbulent reentry caused her heart rate to rise, but poor data made it difficult to analyze. The flight's biological data were given to the media, who named C341 "Félix" after the Félix the Cat cartoon series. CERMA changed it to the feminine Félicette and adopted the name as official. Félicette was euthanized two months after the launch so that scientists could perform a necropsy to examine her brain.

The French launched a second cat into space on 24October. An explosive bolt that would release the rocket from the launch pad failed to function, causing the rocket to launch at an extreme angle. The radio transponder stopped working on the launch pad, which created difficulties in finding the rocket. A helicopter spotted the parachute but could not land, so the agency dispatched ground vehicles. They were unable to get past some barbed wire. The next day, a helicopter was again dispatched and was able to land at the site. The nose cone where the payload was housed was heavily damaged, and the cat had died.

Of the remaining 12 cats that were trained, the fate of 11 is known. One cat's health deteriorated after the electrode surgery, so the scientists removed them. The group adopted her as their mascot and named her Scoubidou, as she had a scoubidou braid around her neck, a popular style at the time. The other nine cats were euthanized at the end of the program.

France continued its biological payload research, changing to monkeys. A monkey known as Martine was launched on 7March 1967 and Pierrette six days later. They were both successfully recovered. France concluded biological payload research at the national level with these flights but later worked on biological payloads with the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Legacy

According to an article in Space.com on 8November 2017, the participation of Félicette in the space race "... was certainly not voluntary, but it was a huge milestone for France, which had just established the world's third civilian space agency (after the Soviet Union and the U.S.). Félicette's mission helped bring France into the space race." Félicette's flight was much less popular than other spaceflights at the time. Burgess and Dubbs believe this is due to photos of her with electrodes implanted on her skull and the new animal rights movement.

Former French colonies have created stamps to commemorate Félicette's flight. Comoros released a stamp in 1992 as one of a series of stamps featuring animals involved in spaceflight; the stamp used the name ''Félix''. In 1997, postage stamps commemorating Félicette and other animals in space were issued in Chad, again using the name ''Félix''. A 1999 stamp in Niger also used ''Félix''.

The UPS student astronomy club at Université ToulouseIII will name its future astronomical observatory in honor of Félicette. It will be the first French observatory entirely managed by students and was due to open in 2021. The 500 mm Dall-Kirkham telescope (3500 mm focal length) will be housed in a motorized dome 3.90m in diameter.

Memorial statue

While some non-human animals which traveled in space were celebrated as heroes—the chimpanzee Ham was buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico, U.S., and the Soviet dog Laika has a bronze monument at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, near Star City in Russia—more than 50 years after her mission there was no monument for Félicette. Then, in 2017 a crowdfunding campaign was started by Matthew Serge Guy to erect a bronze statue of Félicette to commemorate her contribution to science. The statue was designed by sculptor Gill Parker. The preliminary design depicted a cat on top of the Earth, and a plaque featuring the names of significant donors was to be included. In April 2018, the project met its £40,000 funding target.

In April 2019, Guy announced that the statue was to be located in Eastern France at the International Space University. The statue was unveiled on 18 December 2019, as a part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the University's Master of Space Studies program. It is tall and depicts Félicette "perched atop Earth, gazing up toward the skies she once traveled". Guy wrote in a Kickstarter update, "It's crazy to think a video I put online... has resulted in this. The internet's an alright place sometimes."

See also

* Bioastronautics
* List of individual cats
* List of microorganisms tested in outer space
* Monkeys and apes in space
* Soviet space dogs
* Zond 5, the first animals to circle the Moon (tortoises and insects)
* Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum, and Phooey, mice who orbited the Moon on Apollo 17 and were euthanized for research purposes upon their return

References

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1963 in spaceflight
Animals in space
Individual animals in France
Individual cats
Space program of France
1963 animal deaths
Animal deaths by euthanasia
Cat monuments