TODAY marks the anniversary of the first chimpanzee in space.
On January 31, 1961, Ham the heroic chimpanzee was launched on a rocket and became the first ape to reach space.
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It wasn’t until April of the same year that the first human, Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union, followed in Ham’s footsteps.
Ham took his giant leap for ape kind on a Mercury-Redstone rocket that was launched by Nasa from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The chimpanzee reached an altitude of 157 miles and was on the flight for 16.5 minutes.
He was said to be unharmed by the flight but returned a bit dehydrated.
The chimp wasn’t named until after he survived the flight when he was given the title Ham the Astrochimp.
Before this, the US States Air Force referred to him as No. 65.
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This was because a named chimpanzee would have created bad press if they died during the flight.
Ham was born in Cameroon, Africa, in 1957 and captured by animal trappers before being brought to Miami in Florida.
He was then bought by the US Air Force and lived at the Holloman Air Force Base with several other chimpanzees used for flight experiments.
Ham started rigorous flight training from the age of two.
He was taught to do timed tasks when he saw lights and heard sounds.
The purpose of this was to see whether he could accomplish tasks under the harsh conditions of space flight.
It turns out he could.
This showed Nasa that human astronauts would be able to do the same.
Ham was secured into his rocket and had his vital signs and tasks monitored for the entire flight.
The capsule did suffer a partial pressure loss but Ham’s space suit helped him to survive.
He landed in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered later that day.
His only injury was a bruised nose and feeling thirsty.
From 1963 onwards, Ham lived in zoos with other chimps.
Ham died at the age of 26 and his skeleton is at the National Museum of Health and Medicine.
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In other news, Nasa has upgraded its asteroid hazard software with some key changes that should help it better detect potentially dangerous space rocks.
Nasa has revealed stunning footage of a solar flare in action.
And, the US space agency is planning for a ‘golden asteroid’ probing mission to launch this summer.
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