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| SPACE CATS! |
Did you know that cats have benefitted from aviation as well?! In 1963, France developed a lofty goal: to be the first country to send a feline into space. Twelve street cats tried out for this prestigious position. However, ten of these precious little cuties couldn't control their voracious appetites and grew too chunky to fit in the rocket ship. Of the two remaining contenders, Felix outshone his competition and was chosen to make kitty history. This is where the story gets a little furry.. Felix disappeared before he could be fitted for his astrocat suit! French officials have never confirmed whether Felix got cold paws or whether a top secret scandal caused him to be suddenly and unexpectedly decommissioned. Whatever the case, Felicette was next in line for the position. On October 18, 1963, Felicette pranced aboard a special cat castle capsule attached to a French Veronique AGI rocket sounding No. 47 and blasted off from the Algerian Sahara Desert. She traveled an estimated 100-130 miles into space before parachuting back to Earth after 15 minutes.
In more recent news, Iran is now hoping to send a kitty to space in the near future! Mohammad Ebrahimi, a senior space program official in Iran, announced in September 2013 that he hopes to send a Persian cat to space.
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| A Persian will be the first cat in the new century to enter space, if Iran officials are able to follow through with their plans. |
Sources:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130918-animals-cats-dogs-monkeys-space-iran/
http://user.xmission.com/~emailbox/spacecat.htm
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