Facts about Ham Chimp
Born: 1956
Died: January 19, 1983
Birthplace: Africa
Best known as: America's first chimpanzee in space
4 Good Links
MR-2: Ham Paves the Way
NASA's detailed history of the flightProject Mercury Mission MR-2
Just the basics of Ham's flightHam the Astrochimp
Notes from the Roadside Pet Cemetery guideThose Amazing Space Chimps
Early 1960s photos from Life magazineShare this:
Ham the Chimp Biography
Ham the Chimp was one of the chimpanzees specially trained by NASA rocket scientists to fly in tests of American space capsules. On January 31, 1961, Ham blasted off from Cape Canaveral and traveled 157 miles in a Mercury capsule before splashing down in the Atlantic ocean. The trip took 16.5 minutes in all. Three months later the first American human, Alan Shepard, followed Ham into space.
Extra credit
Ham the Chimp was not the first animal in space. That honor goes to Laika the dog, who was sent into orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957.