User:K.Dot8/Ham (chimpanzee)

Beginning in July 1959, the two-year-old chimpanzee was trained under the direction of neuroscientist Joseph V. Brady at Holloman Air Force Base Aero-Medical Field Laboratory to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights and sounds. 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.

'''For further clarification, Ham was not the first animal to go up into space. There were many other types of animals that left Earth's atmosphere before Ham. 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.'''

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. '''At the time of the flight Ham was only a three and a half year old chimpanzee. He was fairly young but he was more than prepared for this mission. He had eighteen months of rigorous training, and even if something were to go wrong,''' Ham's vital signs and tasks were monitored by sensors and computers on Earth. '''The flight did not go one hundred percent as they had planned. The parameters for the altitude and the speed of this mission were supposed to be a precise 115 miles from launch and with speeds topping out at 4,400 miles per hour. In reality the spacecraft carrying Ham reached an altitude of over 150 miles and speeds topping out at over 5,000 miles per hour. These couple of mishaps led to even more problems for Ham and his capsule during their return to earth. Ham ended up landing over 130 miles from where he was predicted to land. He was extracted from water by a helicopter before he drowned.''' The capsule suffered a partial loss of pressure during the flight, but Ham's space suit prevented him from suffering any harm. 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. Ham's capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by the USS Donner later that day. His only physical injury was a bruised nose. '''Ham however, did not seem to be troubled by his injury and appeared enthusiastic to be back home. He did become slightly agitated by all the press and pictures. This was because people at the time did not understand how hard missions like these are on the mind and body.''' His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long. '''During this flight, Ham even experienced weightlessness for around six and a half minutes. He was able to fight through the extreme pressure of weightlessness, g force, and speed. Through all these challenges, Ham still had the ability to perform all his tasks correctly, and even to the similar standard he set on Earth. This was extremely promising news for the scientists observing Ham during the mission. The purpose of this mission was to see if humans would be able to be able to perform all the tasks that needed to be done while in space. By the end of the mission, it not only showed that humans can perform tasks nearly as well on earth as in space, but that they also have a good chance of making it back home alive. They were able to see that even with all the mishaps that occurred with Ham and his flight he was still able to come home relatively safe. However, there still needed to be research on the long term effects caused by time in space on the body.'''