HAM IN SPACE!

Ham The Space Chimp (by sciencemug)

[Ham's pic is a Public Domain image adapted by @sciencemug (source: wikia.com)]

This day in 1961, chimp Ham's the first higher primate to go for a ride on a spacecraft.

So, let's go for a quick recap of what happens in space, in the first five months of 1961:

31-Jan-1961: Holloman Aero Med, Ham The Chimp (Pan troglodytes)

                        (Jul-1957_17-Jan-1983)

Place of birth: French Camaroons, West Africa

Spacecraft: Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) 

Flight lenght: 16'30''

Top Speed: 9426km/h

Altitude reached: 252,7km

[Post flight notes: Ham retires and lives at the Washington Zoo first (1963-1980), and then at the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro (1980-1983). It now sleeps in front of the International Space Hall of Fame (Alamogordo, New Mexico)].

12-Apr-1961: Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Homo sapiens)

                        (9-Mar-1934_27-Mar-1968)

Place of birth: Russia

Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1)

Flight lenght: 108'

Top Speed: 27400km/h

Altitude reached: 327km

5-May-1961: Alan Shepard (Homo sapiens)

                       (18-Nov-1923_21-Jul-1998)

Place of birth: USA

Spacecraft: Mercury-Redstone (MR-3), Freedom 7

Flight lenght: 15'28''

Top Speed: 8262.4km/h

Altitude reached: 186.7km

The actual "CHIMP THE SPACE" t-shirt is here (and here)