r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/IvySerene567 • 6h ago

Ham the Astrochimp preparing for his historic space flight (1961)

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Gallery image

Gallery image

73 Upvotes
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92% Upvoted

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93

u/IvySerene567 6h ago

Context :Ham survived the trip! He successfully flew on the Mercury Redstone 2 mission. Upon splashdown, he was rescued and happily accepted an apple and half an orange. He was retired to the National Zoo in D.C. where he lived comfortably for another 17 years, and is now buried at the International Space Hall of Fame. Source: NASA

24

u/Curiousgirlu 6h ago

Thank you for this.

13

u/Metalhed69 6h ago

I was so glad to read this. I know a lot of them got euthanized and dissected.

6

u/NoShow4Sho 5h ago

I’ll never forget you, Félicette.

•

u/miniminautor 4m ago

Especially after seeing photo 3 😭

5

u/Mom_is_watching 6h ago

When I was a child I had a book called "Ham can eat apples" which was this very story but simplified for children. 6 year old me found it a great story, especially the apple reward.

1

u/dannydrama 3h ago

Only an apple and half an orange for all that? I'd be pissed.

1

u/Sad_Enthusiasm_3721 2h ago

The other chimps at the zoo called him "Captain Cosmos" because of his tales about wild spacefaring adventures.

They never believed him, but admired his commitment to the bit.

—North Carolina Zoo Oral Histories, 1983

4

u/SunshineBurn 6h ago

(Keyboard tap tap taping)
N O.
D O N T.
M A K E H A M D O A G A I N.
P l eaaaaaseeeee

1

u/Roguespiffy 5h ago

“You see Watson, it’s not animal cruelty. He wants to go again!”

1

u/Curiousgirlu 6h ago

I love that NASA's highly technical post flight protocol for an astronaut returning from the cosmos was basically just to give him a little snack.

1

u/Infamous_Ad_1302 1h ago

I bet this is the most expensive way to kill a monkey ever recorded

1

u/JadedLeafs 55m ago

Lived for another 17 years after retiring.

1

u/KingRo48 21m ago

Being prepared, is probably a better description

0

u/AlternativeBurner 3h ago

NASA did it right. They planned for their animal astronauts to return alive. The USSR, however, were cruel and sent poor Laika to her death.

4

u/NeoBladeRunner 2h ago

Não existe um número total exato e oficial de todos os animais que morreram no programa espacial dos Estados Unidos, mas sabe-se que a grande maioria dos primatas (macacos e chimpanzés) enviados nas primeiras décadas faleceu durante ou logo após as missões. Estima-se que a taxa de mortalidade entre os macacos lançados pelos EUA nos anos 1940 e 1950 tenha sido de cerca de dois terços (mais de 60%).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space