1961 SPACE CHIMP FREE

The purpose of this mission, according to a NASA press release issued on 28 January 1961, was to provide “a check of the craft’s environmental control and recovery systems” and “a first test of the functioning of the life support system during an appreciable period – nearly five minutes – of zero gravity.” In early 1961, Ham and the next five most promising primates were flown to Cape Canaveral in Florida to prepare for an experimental flight. I like to think that Ham knew what he was seeing, and that was the same thing that all his fellow astronauts saw after him - that there is but one planet for us all, and upon it, we are all interdependent upon each other.Ham in his capsule, with his handler Edward Dittmer (left). I can't help but wonder now just what he thought when he looked down upon something that only Yuri Gagarin, a few dogs, some mice and a rabbit had previously seen, if they had seen anything at all.

1961 SPACE CHIMP FREE

For 15 glorious minutes he was free of both the gravitational pull of the planet and his human slave masters. The first ape from the planet to leave the planet dominated by the cruel humans who had slaughtered his family and enslaved him. But what struck me about the picture was the look of triumph on his face. I certainly was not aware nor did it occur to me at the time just how tragic Ham's life had been. I think my first reaction was that I wanted to become an astronaut. I remember seeing the picture of Ham on the front page of the newspapers in 1960. His flight lasted 15 minutes, and thus, did not surpass the record set by Ham. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American human to enter space.

Instead, he was buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in New Mexico. That plan was abandoned because of a negative public reaction. He died in 1983 and the plan was to stuff his body for the Smithsonian. His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long.Īfter the flight Ham was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, where he lived for 17 years. Ham's capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by a rescue ship. Ham's lever-pushing performance in space demonstrated that tasks could be performed in space. Ham had his vital signs and tasks monitored using computers on Earth.

Ham entered space 54 years ago this month on January 31, 1961, in a Project Mercury mission, labeled MR-2, that was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. 65,' although for some strange reason, his handers called him 'Chop Chop Chang.' He was not given his name, 'Ham,' until after his flight because the Air Force was worried that there would be adverse publicity should a chimp with a name die during the flight. He was one of 40 chimpanzees purchased for space experimentation. He was then sold to a facility in Florida, where he was purchased by the United States Air Force in 1959. Ham the Astro-Chimp was captured as a baby by animal trappers who had killed his parents. That distinction goes to Ham, and Ham was an African-born slave, captured in Cameroon in 1956. So by the time the first American, Alan Shepard, flew into space, he had already been preceded by quite a few dogs, some mice and a rabbit.īut he also was not the first Earthling sent into space by NASA. On July 2, 1959, a dog named Otvazhnaya (Brave One) was sent into space with her fellow passengers, another dog named Snezhinka (Snowflake) and a rabbit named Marfusha (Little Martha). We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog.' At a media conference in Moscow in 1998, Soviet scientist Oleg Gazenko who worked on the project said, 'The more time passes, the more I'm sorry about it. She died during the flight from stress and overheating. Unlike Gagarin, Laika was sent on a suicide mission. She was launched on Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957. However the distinction of being the first Earthling in space goes to Laika (Лайка, 'Barker'). He was launched on Aponboard the Vostok 1 and spent one hour and 48 minutes in space.

Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human sent into orbit. The first Earthling in space was not a human.

1961 space chimp