Ham the Chimp: The Space Race Hero You Really Didn’t Hear Enough About

Could a chimpanzee actually fly a spaceship? Not just sit there. I mean, truly work it? Make decisions even when everything’s going sideways in space? No, this isn’t some outlandish sci-fi film. Back in ’61, a three-year-old chimp, Ham the Chimp, proved it. Became an unlikely hero in one heck of a human drama: the Space Race. What a story. A total tribute to animal bravery. Changed everything for NASA.

Cold War, Space Games

The Cold War was grinding along in the mid-20th century. And the Space Race? Not just science fair stuff. Nope. Big-time national chest-puffing. A secret showdown of tech might between the US and the Soviets. What started as veiled missile stuff quickly blew up into a global obsession. Space exploration became the ultimate bragging right.

Getting into space? Massive pride booster. And the big prize? Shoot a human past Earth’s atmosphere, then get them back safely. But you couldn’t just strap people into glorified fireworks. Too many unknowns.

Animals Went First, Obviously

Nobody was gonna launch a person into that dark abyss without a serious dress rehearsal. Both the US and the Soviets got it. Sent animals first. These animal astronauts were key. Figuring out those crazy risks and problems that come with leaving Earth.

Soviets usually sent dogs. Squirrels even! For their early unpiloted tries. America? We had monkeys in mind.

America’s Early Space Attempts: Not So Great

America’s first tries with animal spaceflight? Honestly, pretty grim. In ’48, the US Air Force launched a small rhesus monkey on a captured German V-2 rocket. Not some fancy critter capsule. Designed for a nuclear warhead.

Shockingly, it failed. Monkey didn’t even reach orbit. Died on the way up. The 1950s saw a bunch of similar, often brutal, shots with various primates. Some went okay. Many were horrific failures. But through it all, scientists learned something. Bit by bit, they figured out how to get a living thing into space.

NASA’s Mercury Program: Chimp Pioneers

By 1960, space travel wasn’t just an Air Force thing anymore. NASA took the reins. Their big deal: the Mercury Program. Goal was clear: get an American into space. Get ’em back down safely. Ideally, beat the Soviets. That’s the main point.

Taking such a massive gamble with a human life right off the bat? No way. So, NASA landed on the next best thing: chimps. Why chimps? Turns out, these weren’t just super smart monkeys. They were built a lot like humans. Right down to sharing a huge chunk of our DNA. Their smarts meant they could be taught tough tasks. Use tools. Even learn words. Smart, trainable. Just the right “stuff” for pre-human space pilots.

Ham: Tough Little Guy

NASA rounded up 40 chimps from all over the country in ’60. That number? Whittled down fast. First to 14, then a final seven. Among that elite crew, one chimp stood out: a three-year-old male named Ham the Chimp.

Ham was special. Real tough. Could handle the hardcore training better than the others. Plus, he was calm. Easy to teach. A quick study. NASA put him through crazy workouts. Trained him to pull levers, push buttons on a control panel. Just like an astronaut would.

And another thing: the Soviets were already ahead in the Space Race. Launched Sputnik 2 and Laika the dog. Intel reports said a human cosmonaut was basically ready. Pressure on America was huge. NASA fast-tracked Ham’s mission.

Ham’s Wild Ride: A Mess, But a Success

It was January 31, 1961. Morning. The Mercury-Redstone rocket stood tall. Ham the Chimp was strapped into his capsule, tucked up top. But this wasn’t smooth at all. Glitches everywhere. Cooling system broke, fixed it, broke again. Elevator jammed. Trapped some crew. Weather started getting bad.

But the NASA engineers were all about “go for it.” Despite the problems, they launched. Rocket screamed to life. Sent Ham skyward. Problems didn’t stop. Rocket just went too fast. Blew right past its target speed. 720 kilometers per hour? Nah. It zipped past 800 km/h. Totally messed with every flight detail. Altitude, landing spot, how long it’d last – all wrong.

Ham’s capsule eventually hit 250 kilometers high, about ten minutes in. And Ham during all this? Cool as a cucumber. Zero-gravity. Unexpected speed. He did every single command perfectly. Pulled the right levers. Pushed the right buttons. Nailed his training. The flight was supposed to be 10 minutes. Ended up roughly 16.5 minutes.

Landing of worry. Hero’s Welcome!

Coming down was just as wild. Because of that wild launch, Ham’s capsule splashed down 679 kilometers off course. Way far from the rescue teams. Original target was only 420 kilometers away. Capsule’s outside got banged up. Started taking on water.

It was a total race against the clock. Nearest military ship got a radio call. Helicopter flew out to the coordinates. Arrived just barely in time. Any later? Ham could’ve drowned. Navy chopper swooped in, grabbed the capsule from the ocean. Got Ham safely onto the ship.

Ham the Chimp became an instant national hero. Everyone celebrated this amazing thing: America sent a chimp into space. Got him back alive. So much pride. A huge win for the US.

But that joy didn’t last. Shortly after, the Soviet Union screamed about their own win: Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space. Poof. Right out of America’s sails. Still, Ham’s mission, and later tests with other chimps, built the real foundation.

Ham never flew again. He did a little more work for NASA, then retired to a zoo. Chilled out until he passed away from old age in 1983. So, can a chimp fly a spaceship? Pick the right one, train ’em up, and yeah. Absolutely. They wouldn’t handle an emergency like a person. But command and control a rocket around Earth? For sure. And NASA kept studying chimps, too. But that’s another story.

Questions People Ask

Why did NASA use chimps instead of other animals?

NASA picked chimps for the Mercury program. Because their bodies were really similar to humans. Same DNA, even. Plus, super smart. You could train ’em for tough tasks. Use tools! Perfect for seeing what a human could handle up there.

What kind of training did Ham the Chimp go through?

Ham went through super strict training. Think old-school conditioning. Taught him to pull levers, hit buttons on a control panel. These tasks? Designed to mimic what astronauts actually had to do during spaceflight. Even with no gravity!

What happened to Ham the Chimp after his famous flight?

After his flight, Mercury-Redstone 2, Ham the Chimp was in some more NASA studies for a bit. Then he retired. Lived a nice, quiet life at a zoo. Passed away in 1983 from being old. He never flew to space again after that first amazing suborbital trip.