Ham's name is an acronym for the laboratory that prepared him for his historic mission—the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, located at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, southwest of Alamogordo. His name was also in honor of the commander of Holloman Aeromedical Laboratory, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton "Ham" Blackshear.[3][4]
Ham was born in July 1957 in French Cameroon,[5][6] captured by animal trappers and sent to the Rare Bird Farm in Miami, Florida. He was purchased by the United States Air Force and brought to Holloman Air Force Base in July 1959.[5] Ham was sold to the United States Air Force for $457.[7]
There were originally 40 chimpanzee flight candidates at Holloman. After evaluation, the number of candidates was reduced to 18, then to six, including Ham.[8]: 245–246 Officially, Ham was known as No. 65 before his flight,[9] and only renamed "Ham" upon his successful return to Earth. This was reportedly because officials did not want the bad press that would come from the death of a "named" chimpanzee if the mission were a failure.[10] Among his handlers, No. 65 had been known as "Chop Chop Chang".[11][10]
Ham being given a physical examination by a doctor in 1961.
Launch of Ham's mission, January 31, 1961Ham and his trainer, Joseph V. Brady
Beginning in July 1959, the two-year-old chimpanzee was trained under the direction of neuroscientist Joseph V. BradyatHolloman Air Force Base Aero-Medical Field Laboratory to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights and sounds.[12] During his pre-flight training, Ham was taught to push a lever within five seconds of seeing a flashing blue light; failure to do so resulted in an application of a light electric shock to the soles of his feet, while a correct response earned him a banana pellet.[13]: 312 Ham was trained for 219 hours during a 15-month period.[14]: 21
While Ham was the first great ape, he was not the first animal to go to space, as there were many other types of animals that left Earth's atmosphere before him. However, none of these other animals could provide the significant insight that Ham could provide. One of the reasons that a chimpanzee was chosen for this mission was because of their many similarities to humans. Some of their similarities include: similar organ placement inside the body and having a response time to a stimulus that was very similar to that of humans (just a couple of deciseconds slower). Through the observations of Ham scientists would gain a better understanding of the possibility of sending humans into space.[9]
Ham receives an apple following his successful recovery from the Atlantic
On January 31, 1961, Ham was secured in a Project Mercury mission designated MR-2 and launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a suborbital flight.[1][13]: 314–315 Based on dental eruption, Ham was 44 months old at the time of the flight.[14]: 21
A number of physiological sensors were used to monitor the vital signs (electrocardiogram, respiration, and body temperature) of Ham.[15]: 25 A commercial rectal thermistor probe was used instead of the probe used on the human Mercury astronauts.[16][15]: 27 The probe was inserted 8 inches deep into Ham's rectum.[15]: 27 The physiological sensors were placed on Ham about 10 hours before liftoff.[17]: 9 Ham's ability to complete tasks during the flight were assessed by the psychomotor apparatus.[18]: 15 The apparatus gave Ham a visual cue in the form of colored lights and required a response from two levers; if he succeed in his task, drink and food pellet would be awarded; failure would be punished by a shock to the soles of his feet.[18]: 15–16
Due to a valve malfunction, the Redstone rocket delivered thrust higher than intended.[19] The anomaly triggered the emergency escape rocket and subjected Ham to 17g's of acceleration.[19] The jettison of the spent escape rocket also caused the retro rocket pack to be prematurely jettisoned.[19] The lack of the retro rocket caused the capsule to reenter the atmosphere with excessive speed.[19] Ham was subjected to 14.7 g's during reentry.[19] Ham's capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by the USS Donner later that day.[13]: 316 The capsule was damaged during splashdown and settled deeper in the water than designed.[19]
The post flight examination found a small abrasion on the bridge of Ham's nose; he was also dehydrated and lost 5.37% body weight; he was otherwise in good physical condition.[15]: 29 His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long.[20] He would become agitated when the press approached him and panic when his handler would try to situate him into a capsule for photos.[21]: 316, 576
Ham's lever-pushing performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space.[13]: 316 Of the two shocks Ham received in flight, the one shortly after the launch was due to an error in the testing apparatus; the other one due to the lack of response after experiencing 14g deceleration during reentry.[14]: 22–23 The results from his test flight led directly to Alan Shepard's May 5, 1961, suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7.[22]
Ham's backup, Minnie, was the only female chimpanzee trained for the Mercury program. After her role in the Mercury program ended, Minnie became part of an Air Force chimpanzee breeding program, producing nine offspring and helping to raise the offspring of several other members of the chimpanzee colony.[8]: 258–259 She was the last surviving astro-chimpanzee and died at age 41 on March 14, 1998.[8]: 259
The 2001 film Race to Space is a fictionalized version of Ham's story; the chimpanzee in the film is named "Mac".[29]
In 2007, a French documentary made in association with Animal Planet, Ham—Astrochimp #65, tells the story of Ham as witnessed by Jeff, who took care of Ham until his departure from the Air Force base after the success of the mission. It is also known as Ham: A Chimp into Space / Ham, un chimpanzé dans l'espace.[30]
The 2008 3D animated film Space Chimps follows anthropomorphic chimpanzees and their adventures in space. The primary protagonist is named Ham III, depicted as the grandson of Ham.[31]
In 2008, Bark Hide and Horn, a folk-rock band from Portland, Oregon, released a song titled "Ham the Astrochimp", detailing the journey of Ham from his perspective.[32]
^Swenson Jr., Loyd S.; Grimwood, James M.; Alexander, Charles C. (1989). "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury". NASA History Series. NASA Special Publication-4201. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
^ abcRohles, Frederick H. Jr.; Grunzke, Marvin E.; Belleville, Richard E. (1963). "Performance Aspects of the MR-2 Flight". In Henry, James; Mosely, John (eds.). Results of the Project Mercury Ballistic and Orbital Chimpanzee Flights. Washington, D.C.: Office of Scientific and Technical Information. pp. 21–24.
^ abcdWard, William E.; Britz, William E. Jr. (1963). "Medical and Physical Aspects of the MR-2 Flight". In Henry, James; Mosely, John (eds.). Results of the Project Mercury Ballistic and Orbital Chimpanzee Flights. Washington, D.C.: Office of Scientific and Technical Information. pp. 25–32.
^Stingely, Norman E.; Mosely, John D.; Wheelwright, Charles D. (1963). "MR-2 Operations". In Henry, James; Mosely, John (eds.). Results of the Project Mercury Ballistic and Orbital Chimpanzee Flights. Washington, D.C.: Office of Scientific and Technical Information. pp. 7–13.
^ abBrown, E. J.; Iwan, R. D. (1963). "Behavioral Apparatus for the MR-2 and MR-5 Flights". In Henry, James; Mosely, John (eds.). Results of the Project Mercury Ballistic and Orbital Chimpanzee Flights. Washington, D.C.: Office of Scientific and Technical Information. pp. 15–19.
Rosenstein, Andrew (July 2008). Flyboy: The All-True Adventures of a NASA Space Chimp. Windham, Maine: Yellow Crane Press. ISBN978-0-9758825-2-8. A novel about Ham and his trainer.
Burgess, Colin; Dubbs, Chris (January 24, 2007). Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle. Springer-Praxis Books. ISBN978-0-387-36053-9. Book covering the life and flight of Ham, plus other space animals.
