Lazarou Monkey Terror πππThinking that ships are dangerous environments and they have cats, so SPACEships could have cats, right?
Or would their inherent cat-ness lead to destruction of something life critical on a Spaceship that you wouldn't get on a ship of the Sea?
Colm Γ Donnchadha@Lazarou that's how the spaceship in Red Dwarf worked anyways
I Thought I Saw A 2 
@ithoughtisawa2 this feels like something for #Monsterdon perhaps?
If the cat is not the monster we can always fall back on "Man is the Monster!"
David Zaslavsky@Lazarou @ithoughtisawa2 Cats are always a little monster-ish at least
(and we've seen worse)
Howard Chu @ Symas@Lazarou can't answer your question but you reminded me of old NASA experiments with cats in zero gravity https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33621810/air-force-cats-zero-gravity-weightlessness/
Dud (Mx) 1. I would probably want cats on my spaceship
2. I would probably screen extensively to prevent vermin from stowing away on my spaceship
Urban Hermit@Lazarou
1/4
Damn right there are going to be cats on space ships:
A.) There are going to be animals that can deal with super low gravity and we are going to learn how to move in ways that never occurred to us by watching them. I see no reason why it is probably not cats. They already like leaping, balancing, looking down on things, and can use tail rotations to change orientation in mid air. Can they get a grip on every surface? Maybe that is a lesson, hard and smooth does not facilitate...
@Lazarou
2/4
...motion for anybody. And probably avoid sharp corners while you are at it.
B.) The dangerous environment of a space ship? In a place where nobody has a solid grip, things can drift around, motion is hard to start and hard to stop, there better not be any touch panels that open doors and vent all air from the ship! Switches need to be behind panels. Levers need to lock into place. Sliders need to have solid positions where they engage and probably a secondary lock. Safety...
@Lazarou
3/4
...proofing a ship from a cat that can not be trained or scolded is just good safety engineering for everybody.
C.) Hair, shedding. I personally am unfortunately allergic to cats and many other things, you might think I would be against them in a high tech crowded or small environment. Again, a low gravity air system that cycles air from everywhere and removes particles that can get into the lungs is good engineering, and a cat on board is both an excellent test of that system...
@Lazarou
4/4
...but also a early warning that it is failing and requires maintenance. There should be no corners where hair can accumulate. Maybe the entire floor is perforated with holes or slits. The system pulls air to the floor, through slits, where it is routed under the floor for centrifugal cleaning and refreshing. This creates a self cleaning environment and a defacto DOWN that all free object drift to. What facilitates a good, automated environment for the cat is good for the humans.
4/4
...but also a early warning that it is failing and requires maintenance. There should be no corners where hair can accumulate. Maybe the entire floor is perforated with holes or slits. The system pulls air to the floor, through slits, where it is routed under the floor for centrifugal cleaning and refreshing. This creates a self cleaning environment and a defacto DOWN that all free object drift to. What facilitates a good, automated environment for the cat is good for the humans.
@Lazarou
By micro gravity on a space ship I am assuming something - acceleration or deceleration, centrifugal rotation, even the currents of the air circulation system, that creates a defacto "down" orientation in the absence of true gravity.
Also, by quantum entanglement and the fact that there are already so many polydactyl cats, in a way it has already happened. "Shadows of future past" so to speak, or so I like to think.
@Urban_Hermit this is a very well thought out answer for CATS IN SPACE! 
I particularly like you idea of it just being good engineering practice to consider cats. The little imps of chaos can be of use to us, getting into areas we cannot and finding something that shouldn't be.
γγ£γΌγΈγ§γΌγ°γ¬γ§After reading this I can't help but think of Red Dwarf's character Cat.
JoeP@Lazarou
Cat on Red Dwarf. Jones on Nostromo. Data's Spot on Enterprise. Well established!
But on real-life spaceships without artificial gravity ... I would worry about cat vomit getting everywhere...
@JoeP that is my concern too.
Perrin42See "Cats in Space and Other Places":
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/736080.Cats_in_Space_and_Other_Places
In one story, the crew would have died if they did not have a cat on board.
RealGravitas -Citizen Saboteur@Lazarou There was a cat on the Nostromo, as I recall. https://filmschoolrejects.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/alien06.jpg
quangobaudA couple of short story recommendations for you from writer "Cordwainer Smith".
The Game of Rat and Dragon
The Crime and The Glory of Commander Suzdal
(should be able to find pdf's of them easily)
