Félicette the First Cat in Space Enamel Pin

Designed in collaboration with Atomic Pixies!
PIN DETAILS: Silver metal hard enamel pin featuring recessed metal
38mm /1.5in with 2 pin posts

Félicette was originally born a stray cat in Paris selected as part of the French Space Program. She was trained with 13 other cats through many trials, some the same as what humans go through, in preparation for space travel. She orbited Earth in her ship for nearly an hour and a half, and she experienced five minutes of weightlessness. Once the launch was a success, and the cat returned, she was named officially named Félicette instead of the media's name Félix, after the cartoon Felix the Cat. Two months after her flight, she was euthanized so the necropsy could be performed, examining her brain for the effects of the space travel. While the pace race is usually remembered as the USA VS Soviet space programs, this pin honors French cat Félicette and her often overlooked or unknown story.

"𝑺𝑷𝑨𝑪𝑬 𝑪𝑨𝑻 𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔, 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚. -- 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆." October 18, 1963