In January 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham was strapped into a Mercury capsule and launched on a suborbital arc that overshot its target by roughly 240 kilometres, and when the hatch was opened aboard the USS Donner, he was found alive, slightly dehydrated, somewhat exhausted, and carrying a small abrasion across his nose

In January 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham was strapped into a Mercury capsule and launched on a suborbital arc that overshot its target by roughly 240 kilometres, and when the hatch was opened aboard the USS Donner, he was found alive, slightly dehydrated, somewhat exhausted, and carrying a small abrasion across his nose

On 31 January 1961, a chimpanzee about three years and eight months old rode Mercury-Redstone 2 to an altitude of roughly 252 kilometres, endured a peak launch load of 17 g, and landed about 241 kilometres beyond the planned point. When the hatch was opened aboard the USS Donner, he was alive and alert, but the examination recorded dehydration, exhaustion, and a small abrasion across his nose. The mission was an operational test of the Mercury s…