Ham the Chimp in his space capsule

"Ham tries out his combination couch and life support system in preparation for his flight in Mercury Redstone-2 (MR-2)," says NASA in its official caption to this photo. "The couch is plugged into the circuit that normally would supply the astronaut's full pressure suit. Ham did indeed rocket into space on January 31, 1961, traveling 157 miles in his Mercury capsule before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.