The Forgotten Cat of the Space Race

Everyone remembers the dog who died early in space exploration. Almost no one remembers the Paris alley cat who came home. This is the true story of Félicette — the forgotten cat of the Space Race. Everyone remembers Laika — the Soviet space dog who never came home. Almost no one remembers Félicette — a Paris alley cat who rode a rocket launch into space, survived the mission, and quietly disappeared into history. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, a small, overlooked nation launched a different kind of spaceflight. No propaganda. No spectacle. Just disciplined space science and a stray cat chosen for her neurological precision. This is the forgotten story of the Space Race’s most unlikely passenger — and what history chose to remember instead. If this stayed with you, you probably know someone else who might appreciate it. ________________________________________ Chapters (Timestamps) 00:00 - Spaceflight Testing 01:28 - The Animals Who Went First 02:04 - A Different Animal 03:43 - A Necessary Ending 04:12 - An Ounce ________________________________________ “The Accidentally Invented World” A companion episode about how progress often comes from unnoticed, uncelebrated moments — and why history remembers the wrong things. ________________________________________ References (Plain-Text URLs + Context) French Space Agency (CNES) — Official history of early spaceflight Astérix Satellite (1965) — France’s first orbital launch Félicette mission summary — Véronique AGI flight Cold War animal space programs (US & USSR)

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The Forgotten Cat of the Space Race is an episode from An Ounce by Jim Fugate.

This episode is 4:59 long.

This episode was published on Feb 11, 2026.

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