When us humans started to do space exploration we sent animals in space first. From fruit flies, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, frogs, goldfish and even monkeys! So is it so hard to imagine cats in space? Not really, and many of them are happy to volunteer as an astronaut! In fact some of them are even in training already…
BONUS CONTENT: Top 10 Facts About Animals In Space
Cat looks like an Astronaut
10 – “Huston, we are a go for lunch. “…”No Huston you heard me, where is the kitty nibbles?”
FACT: Fruit flies were aboard an American V-2 rocket, launched on February 20, 1947. The rocket reached 68 miles (109 km) and made those flies the first animals in space. All of them were recovered alive.
Cat looks like an Astronaut
9 – “Are you the leader of this pathetic planet?”
FACT: Albert II, a small Rhesus Monkey, became the first monkey in space in a U.S.-launched V-2 rocket on June 14, 1949 and the rocket reached the height of 83 miles.
Cat looks like an Astronaut
8 – “Aren’t you Humans cute? Tiny little brains just trying to figure it all out.”
FACT: The first dogs in space, named Tsygan and Dezik, were launched by the Soviet Union on the Soviet copy of the German V-2 named R-1, July 22, 1951
Cat looks like an Astronaut
7 – “I still owe my bookie on the bet I lost when you humans out-evolved the apes.”
FACT: Ham the Chimp, the first Hominidae launched into outer space, in a Mercury capsule on a Redstone rocket, January 31, 1961. He had been trained to pull all the right levers to avoid a hard impact and therefore was basically flying the rocket as well.
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Cat looks like an Astronaut
6 – “I have a missed call from someone named ET”
FACT: On board Korabl-Sputnik-4 (Sputnik 9), 9 March 1961 was frogs and guinea pigs in the space for the first time, with a cosmonaut dummy and 4 mice!
Cat looks like an Astronaut
5 – “That’s how much branded cat food is? Let’s go, it’s probably cheaper on Mars”
FACT: The first animals to fly around the Moon and return to Earth on Zond 5, launched on September 15, 1968 was two Russian tortoises (also the first ones in space.) The re-entry capsule came back into the Earth’s atmosphere seven days later with the tortoises alive, but they had lost about ten percent of their body weight. Both are still alive today!
Cat looks like an Astronaut
4 – “Go away Tom, it is not your turn in the space suit yet.”
FACT: The first spiders (two Garden Spiders) and the first fish (a mummichog) were put into space aboard the Skylab 3, launched on July 28, 1973
Cat looks like an Astronaut
3 – “We will disintegrate the next smart-ass earthling who asks us if we came from Ur-anus.”
FACT: In November 2009, STS-129 took a monarch butterfly larva into space for a school experiment as well as thousands of C. elegans roundworms for long-term weight loss studies. Sadly none of them survived.
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Cat looks like an Astronaut
2 – “If this planet has intelligent life explain the high ratings for Jersey Shore!?”
FACT: In October 2012, 32 medaka fish were delivered to the International Space Station by Soyuz TMA-06M for the new Aquatic Habitat in the Kibo module! All of them survived and are still alive.
Cat looks like an Astronaut
1 – “Take us to your leader. We believe his name is Grumpy Cat.”
FACT: Cats were first sent a cat into space on October 18, 1963. Named Felicette the journey went well, but another flight just 1 week later sadly went wrong and Felicette lost her life.