The cat humanity betrayed: Félicette
France. A small cat living on the streets was dragged into a fate she never chose.
The French space agency gathered 14 cats from the streets of Paris to select one to send into space.
Félicette was one of them. She was trained for months.
Electrodes were implanted in her brain. She was spun in centrifuges. Kept in pressure chambers.
On October 18, 1963, she was placed inside a rocket. No one asked for her consent.
After launch, she spent 15 minutes in space.
Her brain activity was recorded. Every breath monitored. Every reaction noted. She was valuable to scientists, but only as a test subject.
The capsule landed. Félicette survived.
And her reward? A few months later, she was killed so her brain tissue could be examined.
Then scientists admitted: they learned nothing from the experiment. Félicette died for nothing.
For decades, even her name was forgotten.
She was called “Astrocat” and erased. The French space program gained critical data thanks to her, yet she didn’t even have a statue bearing her name for years.
In 2019, after a campaign started by students at the University of Cambridge, a memorial was finally built. 56 years later.
Félicette never volunteered. She didn’t deserve any of this. Yet she went down in history, along with humanity’s shame.
On behalf of humanity, I’m sorry, Félicette. Because of our selfishness, you lost your short life for nothing. Please forgive us. 😭💔