Ham, a chimpanzee trained by the US Air Force, was the first great ape in space. He proved primates could perform complex tasks while experiencing the extremes of space travel, thus paving the way for human spaceflight.
Number 65
Relaxed and surrounded by the same familiar humans who had always strapped him into the same familiar seat, it seemed to Number 65 that he was getting prepped for another game. The usual wires and sensors were attached, and, once again, the humans put him into a cramped capsule, as they always did. He heard one mention another of his names. “Godspeed, Chop Chop Chang,” the voice said as the human closed the hatch. Inside, it was small, and though the capsule had a window, Number 65 could not see much. But, with arms and legs restrained, he knew it would soon be time to win more delicious treats.
A loud whirring noise eventually pierced the silence. The capsule heaved, shook, and took to the air once again. It swayed from side to side before slamming down on a hard surface with a loud bang. The hatch swung open, and cool air and harsh, bright light from the blue sky poured into the capsule. Unfamiliar humans looked down at Number 65 with smiles on their faces. He was still scared and nervous. He didn’t know these humans. They seemed happy and quickly unstrapped him and yanked him out. Bright flashes and excited chatter made him increasingly anxious. They tried to get him back into the capsule, but Number 65 resisted. Eventually, a hand reached out with an apple. That’s a good reward. He snatched it.
The Astrochimp’s Early Life
This true story is the tale of a chimpanzee now known to the world as Ham the Astrochimp, the first great ape to be launched into space. He was born in 1957 in French Cameroon. When he was an infant, he was captured by animal trappers and shipped off to the US, where he was taken to the Miami Rare Bird Farm in Florida, a facility that sold exotic animals. The US Air Force purchased the chimp for $457 and sent him to Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. There, he was to become an integral part of NASA’s Project Mercury, a program that was to test the effects of space travel on animals before sending humans into the vast unknown.
Training for Space
On January 31, 1961, Number 65 was strapped into a pressurized capsule inside the Mercury-Redstone 2 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight plan was for the rocket to reach an altitude of 115 miles and hit speeds of up to 4,400 mph.
However, a valve malfunction at launch delivered a higher thrust than intended. This caused the craft to overshoot, reaching an altitude of 157 miles and hitting speeds of up to 5,857 mph. It also triggered a chain of events that left the capsule without its retro-rocket pack, a system of small rockets designed to slow down a spacecraft. With that, Number 65 had to endure intense forces—up to 17 g at launch and 14.7 g during re-entry.
During the 16-and-a-half-minute suborbital flight, the chimp experienced a total of 6.6 minutes of weightlessness—but still managed to successfully hit the right levers, with reaction times only marginally slower than those he showed on Earth. This proved that primates, and by extension, humans, could perform tasks in space almost as well as they could on terra firma.
When the capsule eventually splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, it was 420 miles off-target. The heat shield also damaged the capsule upon impact, and it began to take on water.
Coming Back Home
Despite his role in space history, Ham’s life after the mission was largely a lonely and uncelebrated one. This was in stark contrast to the lives of the human astronauts he paved the way for. But, in reaching for a simple banana-flavored treat, this humble chimpanzee also, and unknowingly, reached for the stars on behalf of all humanity.
