For the first time since the shuttle program ended in 2011, two American astronauts went to space on an American spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon. The astronauts hung out at the International Space Station and returned safely back home. Next, NASA launched a new rover called Perseverance to Mars. And, of course, the United States officially has a Space Force now. There’s a nifty logo and motto: “Semper Supra” (Latin for “Always Above”). With all eyes turned to the stars, I began to wonder: should we bring a cat to space?
Historically, cats have been the companions of adventurers. Roman legions brought cats with them on their campaigns. Sailors kept cats on their ships as they crossed unknown oceans. Cats have even been to Antarctica. A tabby cat called Mrs. Chippy joined Ernest Shackleton on the Endurance’s frozen, ill-fated expedition.
Of course, animals were the original test pilots for space missions. Mice, rabbits, monkeys, apes, frogs, dogs, rats, guinea pigs, fruit flies, and even tortoises have been sent to space. Most notably, a cat has already been sent to space and lived to meow about it. Back in the 1960s, the French had a feline space program. They trained fourteen cats. The cat who was chosen to be the first astronaut—I mean “astrocat”—was named Félicette. What happened next to Félicette is eerily reminiscent of Grant Morrison’s ground-breaking comic series, We3. In We3, three animals (Bandit the dog, Tinker the cat, and Pirate the rabbit) are given robotic body armor and skull implants as part of a government project. Like Tinker the cat, Félicette had an electrode implanted in her head. She was shot up in a capsule attached to a French Veronique AG1 rocket. Félicette made it through the ordeal. Apparently, she was a remarkably calm cat.
In popular culture, cats have had starring roles in science fiction adventures. Who can forget the amazing ginger cat Jones, aka “Jonesy,” in Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Alien. Jones was a much-loved member of the crew on the ship Nostromo. This cat inspired Sigourney Weaver’s character, Ripley, to risk her life. In the movie, when Ripley finally reaches safety from the relentless acid-bleeding alien that killed all the other crew members, she decides to turn around and head back into danger to save Jonesy. She literally goes back for the cat! (Admit it: we all breathed a sigh of relief when Ripley left Jones on Earth in the sequel Aliens.)
Not to mention, cats have boldly gone where no one has gone before. Spot the cat was Data’s BFF on Star Trek: The Next Generation. That cat charmed its way into the android’s emotionless heart. He played with her and worried endlessly over her diet and took her to the sick bay when she was pregnant. Data even composed a poem for his cat—“An Ode to Spot.” Data’s love for Spot humanized him.
Finally, there’s ALF from the 1980s television series of the same name. While not set in space, ALF, an acronym for Alien Life Form, is about a fuzzy orange alien who likes to eat cats. He lives with a family on Earth and is always threatening to devour the family’s cat, Lucky, who bears a striking resemblance to my own cat. ALF eventually comes to love cats after meeting a kitten and adopting it instead of eating it. Talk about a redemption arc.
Which brings us back to the original question of whether we should bring a cat to space. Taking a cat to Mars, for instance, isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Mars is dangerous. It’s freezing cold, has no breathable atmosphere, and is pelted with deadly radiation. It is inhospitable to life itself! It’s also far away—millions of miles from Earth. Then there’s the problem of not knowing if humans or animals on Mars will be able to return to Earth because of the adverse effects of Mars’s gravity on bones and muscles. It may literally be a one-way trip. So why bring a cat?
From a practical standpoint, cats are just easier than dogs. Dogs require a lot of care. They have to be walked. They need wide-open spaces to run around and can catch tennis balls. It doesn’t seem humane to cage a dog in a small vessel on what may be a months-long trip to a distant planet. But cats are mellow. They don’t need a ton of attention. Cats are notorious for wanting to be left alone. Their requirements are simple—food, water, a warm lap, a piece of yarn, and they are good to go. Also, cats like cozy spaces. Ask any cat owner: cats always manage to find a nook or cranny to curl up in and nap.
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The Lion of Mars
In writing my novel The Lion of Mars, I thought about all of these things. The story takes place in the American settlement on a futuristic Mars in the year 2091. The main character is an eleven-year-old boy named Bell, and I wondered if I should give him a pet. I confess that I am a cat person. While my childhood pet was a dog (RIP Ruffy, best doggo ever), cats have been the pets of my adulthood. But more than that, they have been my children’s pets. And I have come to realize that you can never underestimate the relationship between a human and a cat. On my son’s lowest day in middle school, who did he turn to? Our cat. Augi is an affectionate, undemanding furry friend who was content to let my son pour his heart out to him. That’s why I decided Bell didn’t just need a pet—he needed a cat.
The first settlers to live on a distant planet like Mars are going to be far from everything familiar. They will be scared and lonely and isolated. They will need something to help them survive and thrive. Something more than courage and the thrill of adventure. Something that only a cat can provide. Like Ripley and Jonesy, a cat will give us someone to go back for. Like Data and Spot, a cat will give us someone to love and protect. Like my son and Augi, a cat will provide comfort. Without that, we’re just empty shells, going through the motions. We need something to remind us of our humanity. Even Alf offers a good message: don’t eat your companions. (Looking at you, Donner Party!)
Dogs may be man’s best friend on Earth, but I have a hunch cats will be man’s best friend in space.
Jennifer L. Holm is a New York Times bestselling author and three-time Newbery honoree and the author of The Lion of Mars (Random House, January 2021). She has two cats, named Augustus and Livia after the Roman emperor and empress. Her children are trying to talk her into getting a third cat. You can find her at her website.
Didn’t Disney do a film about a cat from outer space?
Best to leave the cats on Earth. Why? Because I suspect Jones was in cahoots with the alien. He was either working for The Company or he was in it for himself. Nine lives? More like nine figures! He’s a cash cat. A fat cat.
I’m on to you, Jones.
I just asked, and Mr. Tumpy said “not until microgravitational devices for spacecraft are perfected… period.”
(I got the impression that it’s a “litter box thing”)
@3, I immediately thought of the complications of a litterbox in zero-gee myself.
Are you crazy? A cat would flip the f out in zero g and float around scratching all the oxygen tanks open and stuff.
Shed cat fur is evil enough with gravity involved. I shudder to think of anti-grav fur in the air. Cats in space ships certainly have been a popular topic with authors like Andre Norton and Anne McCaffrey. Vermin in spaaaace!
@1 THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE, 1978.
Yeah, cats in zero-g. NASA thought of that back in the early 60s. They even had a pilot take a cat up in a jet and take it into zero-g with a dive. They put a camera in the cockpit to record it. Jerry Pournelle wrote an entertaining description of the man, yelling and screaming in pain, while desperately trying to pry loose the panicked cat which had attached itself firmly to his chest with all its claws.
The travel would be stressful to cats, but they would probably be ok one you got to the Moon or Mars. Maybe have the cat in stasis, or a frozen embryo, that can be grown once you are on the planet. Then they can live in low G not zero G.
The biggest problem with cats as opposed to dogs is that cats are obligate carnivores, and dogs aren’t.
When you first colonize another planet, especially an airless rock, your initial food generation will be plant based. Growing animals adds another entire new level of complexity to the balanced ecosystem problem.
If you bring a dog to the Moon or to Mars, you can feed it some of the stuff you grow. You can’t do the same for a cat. Somehow you have to get it meat.
Now it it possible that our experiments in lab grown meat end up with something we can transport with us, and that there’s enough excess production to support a cat as well as meeting all the human demand. But I suspect that won’t be a high priority, for at least the first set of flights.
Given the toxoplasmosis infection rates [keep your damn cats indoors, yes even you in England; especially you] I don’t see how we can stop cat owners insisting on cats in space. It is almost guaranteed to happen if we expand into space in any numbers. They’ll find a way, that little brain parasite cats infect us with, will make them want to find a way to make it happen.
I’d rather take a Tibetan terrier, myself.
Not until we have Von Braun-style ring stations with spin pseudo-gravity. A kitty floating around in zero-g, and occasionally launching off surfaces to become a flailing, clawed missile, is not a great idea aboard a zero-g vessel or station.
You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? The perfect organism. It’s structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.
If my puppy is any guide, dogs should never be allowed into space. Every exposed electrical cord in the house is encased in flexible conduit, and we are constantly finding something new turned into a chew toy. She is also on her fourth Lambchop doll.
As depressing as it may be to contemplate. I think we’ll have robot pets to start. Much less cleanup, claws and teeth optional, and you just plug them in when they’re “hungry.”
(Don’t tell my cats I wrote this.)
How could the author overlook classic British comedy scifi series Red Dwarf, wherein a cat in space is in fact the impetus for the entire plot?
I submit that the second animal species to colonize another world, after humans get there, will be rats. Cats will therefore arrive third.
@16 And only because people do not realise that terriers are better at rat catching than cats. Cats are good for catching mice and small birds, but for rats you want a terrier instead.
Here’s the problem with cats in space: you can’t have them anywhere near a laser or a red dwarf as they will spend all their energy in chasing it.
Oh yeah, a cat shredding important equipment and habitat walls, hairballs where they can do the most damage. That sounds like a great idea! Why don’t we wait until we have habitats in which they can’t kill people by effing them up?
As an elementary school librarian, it made my day to see Jenny Holm posting on Tor!
@13 My golden retriever puppy almost chewed through an electric blanket power cord that ran under my bed. It wasn’t live, thank God, but it gave a nasty pop when I plugged it in. I’m lucky Molly survived, and the bed didn’t catch fire.
On the question of rats, a nephew and his housemates are dealing with rats destroying their cars. Car manufacturers now coat the electric wires in car engines with a soy-based covering which rats find yummy. Thousands of dollars of damage overnight. Yikes! Imagine a space station or ship with rats onboard with the same yummy wiring. Bring along the terriers or super cats.
A lot of people are allergic to cats or dogs, but those allergic to cats tend to have more severe symptoms than those allergic to dog. The allergens, which are largely from the cat’s spittle, are spread by grooming behaviors.
Favorite cat-in-spaceship story: Vonda McIntyre’s Barbary. Twelve-year-old Barbary smuggles her cat Mickey aboard. I don’t remember whether McIntyre deals with the needs-real-meat problem, but I do know that she addresses the litter box issue. Mickey, like the cat I had in adolescence, had learned to use the humans’ toilet on earth, and adapts to the vacuum toilet without much difficulty. He also adapts to moving in zero g very quickly.
I asked my cat. He has no interest in leaving Earth. He says, “Let the dogs go, they’re fool enough to do anything.
Unless the cat is genetically engineered.
When man had gone to space, cats had followed; they were quickly proven to be a necessity. For not only did man’s old pests, rats and mice, accompany his trade—there seemed to be equivalent pests on every new world. But the shipscats were considerably different from their Earth-bound ancestors. The cold reality was that a spacer couldn’t afford a pet that had to be cared for—he needed something closer to a partner.
Hence SKitty and her kind; gene-tailored into something more than animals. SKitty was BioTech Type F-021; forepaws like that of a raccoon, more like stubby little hands than paws. Smooth, short hair with no undercoat to shed and clog up airfilters. Hunter second to none. Middle-ear tuning so that she not only was not bothered by hyperspace shifts and freefall, she actually enjoyed them. And last, but by no means least, the enlarged head showing the boosting of her intelligence.
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/0671578057/0671578057___2.htm
Try a ferret – smaller, eats less and some are as good at pest control. Others are just lap warmers. They stay playful for longer. Just make sure the space suits are thick – their slash is sharp but bites get infected less than cat ones. Some sailors preferred ferrets to cats as kill per meal was more.
The piece fails to mention arguably the best portrayal of cats in space: Cordwainer Smith’s The Game of Rat and Dragon.
if course the astrocat raises the question of the zero-g litterbox – we should hold a design competition for that …
If you want more cat in space content I would recommend reading Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes!
In terms of cats in space, there is the fiction series, Space Cat by Ruthven Todd.
First to the moon, then Mars, Venus and finally with kittens. So not scientifically correct, but fun reads, all the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdRukUmNzB4
Kitty having the zero-g experience aboard the Vomit Comet Russian video. 3:42.
Cat is NOT! happy.
@10 – I wasn’t going to comment until I saw your Tibetan Terrier comment. In memory of my dear, deceased To-ri (Lah-To Toh-Ri Nyan-Sen), I’ll second the breed – smart, small (but not toy), and non-shedding.
If you must have a cat, you’d want a female (to avoid marking) Sphynx (which is more or less hairless) and you’d want to surgically remove its claws (which is cruel).
Dogs are more trainable, adapt better to a pack (cats are naturally solitary), do not need meat, can be non-shedding, and might adapt better to zero gravity due to their swimming instinct. Plus they are always glad to see you.
Love this. Some great book suggestions in the comments, including ones I haven’t read. Adding: “Pride of Chanur” by CJ Cherryh is one of my favorite old-school DAW scifi books (and sequels!)
First of all, without cats in space, Andre Norton’s The Zero Stone and Uncharted Stars would have been, well, lots less interesting.
Second of all, my son loves Ruthven Todd’s four books about Space Cat (from the late ’50s or early ’60s). They’re worth a look for young kids (my son was 6 when we started reading them to him).
Not mentioned but should be was Goose ,from Marvel’s Captain Marvel, the alien life form who took the persona of a cat. Now that was a cat to admire, with an appearance of a mild-mannered cat, but had hidden qualities. I would take a cat with me into space.
@28 Not to mention Smith’s “Ballad of Lost C’Mell.”
Met Catherine Asaro at a library conference once. She shared that when she started writing stories as a teenager, she wrote stories about a girl taking her cats to space with her. I don’t think Asaro has included any cats in her adult stories, but it was fascinating to hear about her early ideas as a writer. I would totally take my cats with me if I got to go into space. I’ve read articles comparing lockdown due to the pandemic as similar to being in a spaceship or in Antarctica. Capsule living, they called it. I’ve been working remotely since March 2020. I am single with two cats and I think the isolation would have been much harder without my furry friends. We are all going to be crushed when I must return to the library. I have noted all the problems to having cats in space in the comments, but I think if humans really want their cats, we are clever enough to solve those problems.
More Cats in Space: Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin. Havilland Tuf, the hero, has a huge soft spot for cats and he is also a genetic engineer. So he designs special cats. Telepathic cats. Spy cats.
My first thought when I saw the title of this post was, “Sure…it’ll bring them one step closer to their planet of origin… 8-)
Still more cats in space: Elizabeth Bear’s Ancestral Night, in which Mephistopheles and Bushyasta are vital members of a space crew/family that also includes two humans and one AI. And I think she addresses the zero-G litter box question, although I don’t remember what the solution was.
Best to leave all animals on earth. You can’t sterilize an animal and there is no telling what disease they might carry that could mutate. You will need to live with plants to produce food and oxygen, but why risk animals?
I’m sort of surprised that no one mentioned the Barque Cats that populate spaceships in Ane McCafffrey’s Tower and Hive novels. Or the Treecats in David Weber’s Harrington Novels. The Barque Cats seem like an analogue of the cats that sailed human seas except as well as keeping vermin down they also detect oxygen leaks. The Treecats are a six-limbed arboreal cat from Sphinx with near human intelligence and are telempathic. Both great additionals to animals in space stories.
@@@@@ 7. I heard about this experiment years ago and have been looking for more information about it, unsuccessfully I might add. You wouldn’t happen to know the title of the essay by chance?? It would be much appreciated.
The Zero Stone was the first contemporary science fiction novel I ever read. I was in Grade 7 and had read all the classics, like Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, etc. Andre Norton most definitely had a lot to do with my love for Science Fiction and Cats.
And of course there is no cooler cat in space than Cat, the descendant of Frankenstein, who lives on the mining ship Red Dwarf.
” It doesn’t seem humane to cage a dog in a small vessel on what may be a months-long trip to a distant planet. “
Nor is it humane to cage a cat in such a way. Nor is it humane to keep a cat indoors 100% of the time. Cat’s seem laid back, but they need a changing environment to explore, which they do not get when kept constantly in doors.
Yes, they can survive inside all the time. And dogs can survive crated. And humans can survive inprisoned, but none of those are humane.
Indoor cats are universally neurotic. Once you’ve known a normal cat that has access to the outdoors the difference is obvious.
@46 “Indoor cats are universally neurotic.” Huh? There’s a total lack of details here. What is this obvious difference?
My kits were born in my bedroom and were able to stay with their bio mother longer than is usual with domestic cats that get separated WAY too soon. They were never kidnapped from their original home, or from their siblings. Being spared from these traumas, I think/hope they grew up more or less OK. They had happy lives.
Most cats don’t like to travel or have changes in their life. That could be got around by taking a kitten, but I’d love to know how their going to negotiate the litter tray.
More study is needed on the effects of non-gravity on living creatures from Earth before this could be viable.
@@@@@46
That is what is technically known as “a lie”. Cats adapt quite well to an indoor lifestyle, and the need to “free roam” is not something that actually exists. Whether or not cat owners can adapt to regularly cleaning a litterbox is an entirely different question with a far less clear answer.
Please leave the pets are slaves type of arguments somewhere else.
Can I get an honourable mention for Book’s cat Grudge in Star Trek Discovery?
@31 The “Space Cat” series was formative reading for me and left a lasting impression So much so that when they were FINALLY reissued a few years ago I HAD to scoop them up right away. And on rereading them as an adult . . . wow: there was a lot more depth there than I would ever have recognized when I first read themin elementary school.
@46, I’ve had both indoor and outdoor cats. Frankly I never noticed any difference. Both kinds are spoiled and demanding. My current cat is a rescue. He avoids the outside religiously. It holds bad memories.
@46, I’ve had both indoor and outdoor cats and never noticed a difference in temperament. They’re all demanding! My present cat is a rescue who actually fears the outdoors. Bad memories.
Outdoor cats are an invasive species. Locally, at least coyotes and fishers are putting some control on them, but the owners need to take some responsibility for the damage they cause.
This conversation is moot. We all know a cat is eventually going to sneak on to a spaceship. I feel pretty confident in saying that most of the travelers mentioned in this article didn’t set out to take them along, “we are getting ready to sail the high seas – where are the damn cats??” said no one ever…
@57 Cats are essential for rodent control on ships, as well as for the mental hygiene of sailors, so yes, having a (pregnant) cat on board was essential when sailing the high seas.
Cats may have too much good sense to sneak aboard a spaceship, but cat hair will make it to Mars and onward because cat hair gets EVERYWHERE.