Animals in space On 18 October 1963, France launched Félicette the cat aboard Veronique AGI sounding rocket No. 47. The launch was directed by the French Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Médecine Aéronautique (CERMA). Félicette was recovered alive after a 15-minute flight and a descent by parachute. Félicette had electrodes implanted into her brain, and the recorded neural impulses were transmitted back to Earth. A second cat was sent to space by CERMA on 24 October 1963, but the flight ran into difficulties that prevented recovery. The final French animal launches were of two monkeys in March 1967. China launched mice and
Miss Earth women wear ankle-length dresses. Nevertheless, her participation in the pageant received approval from the Dalai Lama.<ref name="csmonitor.com/2006/1017/p07s02-wosc.html"></ref><ref name="misstibet.com/history/2006/stories/20061206-miss_tibet_goes_global.html"></ref><ref name="xeni.net/trek/2006/11/miss-tibet-crowned-headed-for-miss.html"></ref><ref name="news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7129296.stm"></ref> Carousel Productions licensed the Miss Cuba organization in 2007 to select the first Cuban representative at Miss Earth. Ariana Barouk won; she became the first Miss Cuba in several decades, and competed at the Miss Earth Pageant.<ref name="showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view_article.php?article_id"></ref> Also in 2007, Miss Earth made history when delegates from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Tibet all competed together for the first time in an international pageant in spite of political sensitivities. In 2008, the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan, one of