Ham (chimpanzee)

Ham(July 1957 – January 19, 1983), achimpanzeealso known asHam the ChimpandHam the Astrochimp, was the firstgreat apelaunched intospace. On January 31, 1961, Ham flew asuborbital flighton theMercury-Redstone 2mission, part of the U.S. space program'sProject Mercury.
Ham was known as "No 65" before he safely returned to Earth, when he was named after an acronym for the laboratory that prepared him for his historic mission—the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, located atHolloman Air Force Basein New Mexico, southwest ofAlamogordo. His name was also in honor of the commander of Holloman Aeromedical Laboratory, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton "Ham" Blackshear.
Ham was born in July 1957 inFrench Cameroon,captured by animal trappers and sent to the Rare Bird Farm inMiami, Florida. He was purchased by theUnited States Air Forceand brought to Holloman Air Force Base in July 1959.Ham was sold to the United States Air Force for $457.
There were originally 40 chimpanzee flight candidates at Holloman. After evaluation, the number of candidates was reduced to 18, then to six, including Ham.Officially, Ham was known asNo. 65before his flight,and only renamed "Ham" upon his successful return to Earth. This was reportedly because officials did not want the bad press that would come from the death of a "named" chimpanzee if the mission were a failure.Among his handlers, No. 65 had been known as "Chop Chop Chang".
Beginning in July 1959, the two-year-old chimpanzee was trained under the direction of neuroscientistJoseph V. BradyatHolloman Air Force BaseAero-Medical Field Laboratory to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights and sounds.During his pre-flight training, Ham was taught to push a lever within five seconds of seeing a flashing blue light; failure to do so resulted in an application of a lightelectricshock to the soles of his feet, while a correct response earned him a banana pellet.Ham was trained for 219 hours during a 15-month period.
While Ham was the first great ape, he was not the first animal to go to space, as there were many other types ofanimals, includingprimates, that left Earth's atmosphere before him. However, none of these other animals could provide the significant insight that Ham could provide. One of the reasons that achimpanzeewas chosen for this mission was because of their many similarities to humans. Some of their similarities include: similar organ placement inside the body and having a response time to a stimulus that was very similar to that of humans (just a couple of deciseconds slower). Through the observations of Ham scientists would gain a better understanding of the possibility of sending humans into space.
On January 31, 1961, Ham was secured in aProject Mercurymission designatedMR-2and launched fromCape Canaveral, Florida, on a suborbital flight.Based on dental eruption, Ham was 44 months old at the time of the flight.
A number of physiological sensors were used to monitor the vital signs (electrocardiogram, respiration, and body temperature) of Ham.A commercial rectal thermistor probe was used instead of the probe used on the human Mercury astronauts.The probe was inserted 8 inches deep into Ham's rectum.The physiological sensors were placed on Ham about 10 hours before liftoff.Ham's ability to complete tasks during the flight were assessed by the psychomotor apparatus.The apparatus gave Ham a visual cue in the form of colored lights and required a response from two levers; if he succeed in his task, drink and food pellet would be awarded; failure would be punished by a shock to the soles of his feet.
Due to a valve malfunction, the Redstone rocket delivered thrust higher than intended.The anomaly triggered the emergency escape rocket and subjected Ham to 17gof acceleration.The jettison of the spent escape rocket also caused the retro rocket pack to be prematurely jettisoned.The lack of the retro rocket caused the capsule to reenter the atmosphere with excessive speed.Ham was subjected to 14.7gduring reentry.Ham's capsule splashed down in theAtlantic Oceanand was recovered by theUSSDonnerlater that day.The capsule was damaged during splashdown and settled deeper in the water than designed.
The post flight examination found a small abrasion on the bridge of Ham's nose; he was also dehydrated and lost 5.37% body weight; he was otherwise in good physical condition.His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long.He would become agitated when the press approached him and panic when his handler would try to situate him into a capsule for photos.
Ham's lever-pushing performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space.Of the two shocks Ham received in flight, the one shortly after the launch was due to an error in the testing apparatus; the other one due to the lack of response after experiencing 14gdeceleration during reentry.The results from his test flight led directly toAlan Shepard's May 5, 1961, suborbital flight aboardFreedom 7.
Ham retired from theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) in 1963.On April 5, 1963, Ham was transferred to theNational Zooin Washington, D.C., where he lived for 17 yearsbefore joining a small group of chimps atNorth Carolina Zooon September 25, 1980.
Ham suffered from chronic heart and liver disease.On January 19, 1983, at age 25, Ham died.After his death, Ham's body was given to theArmed Forces Institute of Pathologyfornecropsy. Following the necropsy, the plan was to have him taxidermied and placed on display at theSmithsonian Institution, following Soviet precedent with pioneeringspace dogsBelka and Strelka. However, this plan was abandoned after a negative public reaction.Ham's skeleton is held in the collection of theNational Museum of Health and Medicine, Silver Spring, Maryland,and the rest of Ham's remains were buried at theInternational Space Hall of Famein Alamogordo, New Mexico.Colonel John Stappgave the eulogy at the memorial service.
Ham's backup, Minnie, was the only female chimpanzee trained for the Mercury program. After her role in the Mercury program ended, Minnie became part of an Air Force chimpanzee breeding program, producing nine offspring and helping to raise the offspring of several other members of the chimpanzee colony.She was the last surviving astro-chimpanzee and died at age 41 on March 14, 1998.