Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Collection
Name of Image:
Chimpanzee "Ham" In Biopack Couch
Full Description:
A three-year-old chimpanzee, named Ham, in the biopack couch for the MR-2 suborbital test flight. On January 31, 1961, a Mercury-Redstone launch from Cape Canaveral carried the chimpanzee "Ham" over 640 kilometers down range in an arching trajectory that reached a peak of 254 kilometers above the Earth. The mission was successful and Ham performed his lever-pulling task well in response to the flashing light. NASA used chimpanzees and other primates to test the Mercury Capsule before launching the first American astronaut Alan Shepard in May 1961. The successful flight and recovery confirmed the soundness of the Mercury-Redstone systems.
Date of Image:
1961-01-31
Category:
Mercury Project
term:
Ham
term:
MR-2
term:
Mercury
facet_who:
Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Mercury
facet_where:
Mercury
facet_where:
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
facet_when:
January 31, 1961
facet_when:
May 1961
facet_when_year:
1961
Reference Number:
MSFC-75-SA-4105-2C
MIX #:
9248357
NIX #:
MSFC-9248357
MSFC Negative Number:
9248357
UID:
SPD-MARSH-9248357
original url: