Ham The Astrochimp & National Hero

May 6, 2022

Chimpanzee 'Ham' in his flight couch, after his trip in the Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) on Jan. 31, 1961. (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

To accomplish the impossible, sometimes a humanoid must undergo previously inconceivable trials. For a chimp named Ham, that meant skyrocketing into space in 1961 before returning to Earth a national hero. Ham followed a long line of rodents, monkeys, dogs, even fruit flies that the United States and Russia used as test subjects to ascertain the effects of space travel.

Obviously, today PETA would throw a historic tantrum over such animal testing but in the ‘60s the Space Race against the Soviet Union took precedence. NASA proudly commemorates Ham and other animals, “They gave their lives and/or their service in the name of technological advancement, paving the way for humanity’s many forays into space.”

If Ham had any expectations about his life, space travel was unlikely of them.

From Miami To New Mexico

As part of NASA’s Mercury program, they purchased 40 chimps from a Rare Bird Farm in Florida. One of those was Ham who cost the government just $457. Unlike the Russians, who preferred to fire stray dogs into space, America preferred chimps for a couple of reasons.

First, and most importantly, chimps share almost 99% of our DNA, more than any other animal. Secondly, they wanted to test the effects of space travel on an intelligent animal to see if humans could perform tasks in the dark unknown of space.