The incredible true story of 'Ham the Chimp' who became first ape in space

The incredible true story of 'Ham the Chimp' who became first ape in spaceBefore the astronauts of Artemis II could embark on their historic space mission, the impact and demands of spaceflight were tested on a series of animals - and a chimp named Ham went down in historyCommentsNewsJess Flaherty Senior News Reporter08:04, 18 Apr 2026View 2 ImagesHam the Chimp 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 more than 640 kilometers down range in an arching trajectory that reached a peak of 254 kilometers above the earth(Image: NASA/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)A chimp helped pave the way for human space exploration - and he survived. The Artemis II mission came to an end on April 10 as the astronauts safely returned to Earth following a historic 10 days of space travel.‌But before humans ventured into space, scientists tested the impact and demands of spaceflight on a series of animals. On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee, known as Ham the Chimp, went down in the history books as the first great ape launched into space. Ham flew aboard the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, which was part of the US space program’s Project Mercury.‌He had been referred to as “No 65” before his safe return back to Earth, where he was then given the name Ham as a nod to the laboratory that trained him for the mission; the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center. Ham doubles as an acronym for the facility.‌It’s believed he wasn’t initially named in case the mission failed and he died - officials wanted to avoid the potential public outcry and bad press that would likely ensue if a named chimpanzee lost his life for humans’ pursuit of space exploration.Before his mission, Ham received hundreds of hours of extensive training over the course of 15 months. He was taught to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights and sounds.Throughout his pre-flight training, he was taught t...