Give me a paw: netizens are raising money for a monument to the cosmonaut cat

54 years ago, the first cat flew into space. And only after more than half a century on the monument to the cat, whose history was undeservedly forgotten, they began to raise money on Kickstarter.

Source: Euronews

October 18, 1963 French The Training and Research Center of Aviation Medicine launched a black and white Felicette cat into space. The launch took place from a base in the Sahara Desert on board a Véronique AVI V47. The launch vehicle ascended 160 kilometers. The flight lasted 12 minutes, including 5 minutes in zero gravity. Then there was a separation of the capsule with the cat, and the capsule dropped to the Ground on a parachute. The flight was successful, the cat returned unharmed.

The photo was taken after Felicette returned to Earth. The picture reads: "Thank you for your participation in my successful mission on October 18, 1963."

Felicette was chosen from a whole group of cats after a series of training sessions and tests, including spinning in a centrifuge. She was the only cat to have been in space. Just a few days after the launch, an attempt to repeat the experiment ended in tragedy. The rocket with another cat crashed to the Ground shortly after takeoff, and the cat died. Since then, cats have not tried to travel beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

After the flight, Felicette was studied for several months, and then euthanized for further research. Over time, the story of the flight of the fluffy Frenchwoman was forgotten. Creative Director of Anomaly London Matthew Guy he did not agree with such an injustice and began collecting money for the installation of a monument to Felicette. The Kickstarter campaign began on the 54th anniversary of the cat's flight.

In total, 40 thousand pounds are required for the installation of the monument, of which 11 have already been collected. Matthew Guy would like to install a monument in Paris, the birthplace of "astrokoshka". Guy offered Felicette-printed accessories for donations: posters, postcards, bags, notebooks and even a 30-centimeter replica of the statue.

"Dogs, chimpanzees and other animals that have been in space are well known in popular culture. But very few people know that the cat was launched into space. Now it's time to put a monument to astrokoshka, which she rightfully deserved," wrote Matthew Guy.