Download Free Apps & Games @ PHONEKY.com
Download Free Apps & Games @ PHONEKY.com
Ham the Astrochimp
Join this group to download.
Description: Ham (July 1956 - January 19, 1983), also known as Ham the Chimp & Ham the Astrochimp, was a chimpanzee who was the first Hominidae launched into outer space, on 31 January 1961. The launch was part of the American space program. Ham's name is an acronym for the lab that prepared him for his historic mission the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, located at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Ham was born in July 1956 in Cameroon. Ham was purchased by the United States Air Force & brought to Holloman Air Force Base in 1959. Officially, Ham was known as No. 65 before his flight, & only renamed Ham upon his successful return to earth. In July 1959, the 3 year old chimpanzee was trained under the direction of neuroscientist Joseph V. Brady at Holloman Air Force Base Aero Medical Field Laboratory to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights & sounds. In his pre-flight training, Ham was taught to push a lever within five seconds of seeing a flashing blue light. Ham was secured in a Project Mercury mission labeled MR-2 & launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a suborbital flight. Ham had his vital signs & tasks monitored using computers on Earth. The capsule suffered a partial loss of pressure during the flight, but Ham's space suit prevented him from suffering any harm. Ham's capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean & was recovered by a rescue ship later that day. He only suffered a bruised nose. His flight was 16 minutes & 39 seconds long. After the flight, Ham lived for 17 years in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., then at the North Carolina Zoo before his death at the age of 26 on January 19, 1983.
Uploaded By: femcat38
Date: 4/15/2014
Views: 342
File Size: 101 KB
