# How would I get a cat to space? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250 "2022-02-28T19:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/1 "2022-02-28T19:41:57Z")
I was thinking about Alien/s and Ripley’s cat Jonesy. Could a cat survive liftoff in a rocket? Or would it need its own little spacesuit of some kind and presumably sedation? Assuming there’s some sort of artificial gravity, I guess it would be fine on a large ship or space-station from then on. I know dogs have been sent up, but I wasn’t sure how much else would be needed nowadays, or if the same basic materials would be enough to avoid injury. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/2 "2022-02-28T19:58:18Z")
> **[First Cat in Space to Receive a Proper Memorial](https://www.space.com/38702-felicette-first-space-cat-memorial-kickstarter.html)** > > A Kickstarter campaign aims to erect a bronze statue in Paris, France, to memorialize the first cat to go to space. > On Oct. 18, 1963, a French cat named Félicette became the first and only feline to ever travel to space. She launched atop a Véronique AG1 rocket and flew nearly 100 miles (157 kilometers) above the Earth, where she briefly experienced weightlessness. Her rocket soared up to six times the speed of sound and exposed her to 9.5 g’s of force. Fifteen minutes later, she safely returned to Earth by parachuting down in her little space capsule — alive and well. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/3 "2022-02-28T21:07:26Z")
If it’s like our cats, judging from their behavior riding in the car, you’d have to place them in a cat carrier, and then they start meowing when the vehicle starts moving. The meowing frequency increases with the speed of the vehicle, so by the time they’re _en route_ to orbit the cats will be emitting a continual tone and probably excreting in the carrier. Of course, _your_ cats may act differently. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/4 "2022-02-28T21:17:59Z")
nm – (post must be 5 chara) ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/5 "2022-03-01T15:02:48Z")
Since the question has been answered, I think it’s relevant to link this video of cats in weightlessness (Vomit Comet though, not actually space): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZVtpwRSyYSM/hqdefault.jpg "Cat in state of weightlessness") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVtpwRSyYSM) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/6 "2022-03-01T17:49:27Z")
Cucumber. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/7 "2022-03-01T18:06:13Z")
I recall some discussion once in the early days of the space program. They wanted to see what cats did in weightlessness since cats seem to be able to orient themselves while falling so they land on their feet. They couldn’t afford a big aircraft for a simple small experiment, so they got a fighter aircraft to take a cat up, with a camera rolling over the pilot’s shoulder. Once up, he was supposed to do a zero-G arc and release the cat. Apparently, they have very good footage of the cat, claws out clinging to pilot’s arm as he vainly shakes trying to get it to let go. IIRC shuttle lift-off was at most 3G which is nothing for a cat. How they handle extended weightlessness is a question, or how sensitive their inner ear would be in a small-diameter centrifuge to simulate gravity. IMHO the issue would be the litterbox. (Arthur C Clarke mentioned in discussing the making of 2001 that experiments showed that for 1G rotating gravity, the diameter needed to be about 300 feet to avoid human inner ear problems. Obviously in the movie, Discovery is not that big - they just fudged this and glossed over the detail.) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/8 "2022-03-01T21:59:10Z")
That cat is not happy. (It’s not terrible to watch; but the cat is clearly not pleased.) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/9 "2022-03-02T13:42:32Z")
How to get a cat to space? Use a really big catapult! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/10 "2022-03-02T14:00:52Z")
This business of animals in space deserves more attention. It’s clearly fascinated people for a long time. An important point is animals abruptly introduced to weightlessness vs animals raised in weightlessness. In _Waldo_ (Heinlein 1942), IIRC, a dog raised in normal gravity was completely confused in zero-G, but a bird raised in zero g had learned how to “fly”, propelling itself like a rocket , pushing itself off and keeping its wings furled. Arthur C. Clarke, in one of his early pieces (_The Other Side of the Sky_ ? ) imagined birds to be completely confused and helpless in a weightless situation. I’ve often thought about the issue of cats raised in zero-G. I suspect they’d adapt to it pretty well, assuming that you gave them a suitable environment (have the walls completely lined with carpeting they could dig their claws into, for instance. And give them frequent holds they can get to with a minimum of contorting in free space. That cat at the end of the video was fine once it found a handle it could dig its claws into and hold on). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/11 "2022-03-02T14:22:35Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > How to get a cat to space? Use a really big catapult! - Would a chicken require a poultrypult? ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/12 "2022-03-02T14:53:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That cat at the end of the video was fine once it found a handle it could dig its claws into and hold on). I’m pretty sure at the end of the video the plane had started back up and gravity was normal or extra. Here are birds in space: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/X7-hm3A7ayI/hqdefault.jpg "Quails in space") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-hm3A7ayI) I realize that all this doesn’t actually answer the OP. HOW does one launch a cat into space? It’s been done, but are they just put in a small cage? Special harness? Sedation? These are actually good questions we haven’t found answers for. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/13 "2022-03-02T14:56:26Z")
Whose smart idea was this? What if those birds get hit by solar radiation and develop strange new powers? Space chickens are not something the Space Force has trained to combat. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/14 "2022-03-02T15:20:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That cat at the end of the video was fine once it found a handle it could dig its claws into and hold on It was meowing in complaint. I agree that a cat who was used to weightlessness might not mind it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-i-get-a-cat-to-space/960250/15 "2022-03-02T16:03:55Z")
Weird aside. I’ve got the Gary Larson tearaway calendar on my desk, and today’s entry is “The Living Hell of Maurice, Jacques Cousteau’s Cat” It shows the cat looking out the porthole of a submarine and freaking out. [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294493263140530002/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294493263140530002/) [https://americasbestpics.com/picture/the-living-hell-of-maurice-jacques-cousteau-s-cat-KUwlVhTz8](https://americasbestpics.com/picture/the-living-hell-of-maurice-jacques-cousteau-s-cat-KUwlVhTz8)