In 1961, This Chimp Named Ham Became The First Chimpanzee To Ever Launch Into Space, Paving The Way For Human Cosmos Travel
During the early days of space research, a group of chimpanzees known as the Air Force chimps paved the way for scientists’ understanding of our cosmos.
And on January 13, 1961, one Air Force chimp named Ham became the first chimpanzee to ever travel to space.
Ham was born in Cameroon, West Africa, in 1957 before being captured and brought to the Miami Rare Bird Farm in Florida.
Then, in 1959, Ham was selected to be trained for space flight via Project Mercury.
So, he was transferred to the Hollomon Air Force Base in New Mexico before undergoing an eighteen-month training period.
Ham’s training consisted of habit-building, such as getting him accustomed to sitting in a chair for long periods of time, as well as operation instruction.
In particular, Ham was trained to activate levers inside his space module called a “couch.”
And throughout his training, Ham blew researchers away. They ended up selecting him to be the first chimpanzee to travel into space in order to test space flight’s safety on ape bodies.
NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; pictured above is Ham
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So, on January 31, 1961, Ham waited on the Cape Canaveral, Florida, launch pad for numerous hours before taking off into the cosmos.
His flight only lasted about sixteen and a half minutes, but Ham traveled approximately five thousand and eight hundred miles per hour before reaching nearly one hundred and sixty miles above the earth.
And miraculously– despite the shock, speed, and gravitational force changes– Ham successfully performed all of his tasks.
Once finished, though, the chimp re-entered the earth’s atmosphere and, unfortunately, splashed down about one hundred and thirty miles away from the intended target.
Ham’s space pod did begin taking on some water, and it took a recovery ship several hours to reach him.
Shockingly, though, the chimp was still alive and quite calm once discovered by rescuers. He did have an enormous grin on his face, though, which is a sign of severe fear and anxiety in chimpanzees.
In turn, Ham was not subjected to biomedical research like the other Air Force chimps following his space flight.
He instead spent the rest of his days at The National Zoo and the North Carolina Zoo before passing away in 1983 at the age of twenty-six.
Still, the chimp’s brave travels will never be forgotten by the science community.
“Ham’s flight is remarkable for many reasons. Ham not only survived the flight but performed his tasks correctly despite the rigors of space flight and the fear he must have experienced,” said Save The Chimps, one of the largest chimpanzee sanctuaries in the world.
Moreover, Ham’s expedition paved the way for Alan Shepard, Jr. to become the first American to enter space later that same year.
So, the next time you look up at the moon or stars, remember to thank Ham for his priceless contribution to space exploration.
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