This University of Missouri report describes the Roman eXtreme Deep Field program, allocated approximately 386 observing hours to study the early universe. The linked September 8 arXiv document summarizes the approved survey plan; it does not report completed survey results.

On This Day, October 18, 1963, a small black-and-white cat named Félicette became the first cat to travel into space. Félicette made history when French scientists launched her beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Long before cats became internet celebrities, this brave little feline became part of one of the most unusual chapters of the space race.

During the 1960s, the United States, the Soviet Union, and other nations were racing to understand whether living organisms could survive the extreme conditions of spaceflight.

Scientists had already sent dogs, monkeys, and other animals on missions to study how space travel affected the body.

France decided to conduct its own experiments.

A group of cats underwent training and medical monitoring before one was selected for the mission. Her original designation was C341.

On the morning of October 18, 1963, Félicette was placed inside a specially designed capsule attached to a French Véronique rocket.

The rocket launched from Hammaguir in the Algerian Sahara.

Then came the extraordinary journey.

Félicette travelled to an altitude of approximately 157 kilometres, crossing the commonly used 100-kilometre boundary of space.

During the flight, she experienced several minutes of weightlessness while scientific instruments monitored her physiological and neurological responses.

Unlike an orbital spacecraft, the rocket did not carry her around Earth. Instead, it followed a suborbital trajectory before returning toward the ground.

After the capsule descended by parachute, recovery teams located it and brought Félicette safely back to Earth.

She had survived the journey.

Her mission provided scientists with data about how a living organism responded to the conditions of spaceflight.

Yet Félicette's story also has a heartbreaking side.

About two months after her flight, she was euthanized so researchers could examine the effects of the mission on her body. Reports indicate that the hoped-for scientific insights from that examination were limited.

For decades, her name received far less attention than those of other animal space pioneers, including Laika the Soviet space dog.

But Félicette's place in history is unique.

She remains the first cat known to have travelled into space—and the only cat to have completed such a mission.

Her story reminds us that the early space race was not driven by rockets and astronauts alone. Animals were also used in experiments as scientists tried to understand the risks of leaving Earth.

She returned from space alive, but her name deserves to live on in history.