Tue Sep 17, 2013 17:28:41
Iran is planning to send a Persian cat into space as the next animal astronaut after launching a monkey earlier this year.
Head of Iran’s Space System Research Center Mohammad Ebrahimi said on Monday that the next animal could be a distinctive Persian cat; a long-haired, flat-faced breed named after Iran's former name of Persia.
Ebrahimi said the Persian cat was the favored candidate for the mission after tests had been conducted on a number of animals.
The mission could go ahead by March next year, he added.
In February, Iran successfully sent a monkey outside earth's atmosphere and returned it safely.
The cat would be following in the footsteps of a menagerie of dogs and monkeys who were among the early stars of the US and Soviet space programs in the 1960s.
The Islamic Republic is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space which was set up in 1959.
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