Félicette was a Parisian stray cat who, in 1963, was sent into orbit by the French aboard the Véronique rocket. These were the years of the space race; humans had not yet set foot on the Moon. To understand how humans might survive such a journey, dogs, monkeys, a gray rabbit, forty mice, two rats, even fruit flies and plants were sent into space to study how living beings could endure this incredible voyage.

Aboard Véronique, Félicette orbited the Earth for 15 minutes and then returned safely thanks to a giant parachute. She became famous for a while, but after humans landed on the Moon, the memory of Félicette—and of almost all the other animals that first glimpsed space—was largely forgotten.