posted 08-05-2011 01:11 PM               

After his success with Able and Baker, Dr. Brady was tapped to help train Ham, a 3-year-old chimpanzee.

Dr. Brady helped teach Ham to operate a system of lights and levers, training him to flip at least one lever every 20 seconds to avoid an electric shock on the sole of his foot.

On Jan. 1, 1961, Ham was strapped into a contour couch tailored to his 37-pound frame. For his mission, Ham rode in a Mercury space capsule equipped with the same life-support system that astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. used five months later.

During nearly seven minutes of weightlessness, Ham flawlessly worked the lever and light system, receiving not a single shock. His performance proved to scientists that complex tasks could be handled during space flight.

Ham’s vessel landed in the ocean 422 miles downrange before it was recovered and placed on the deck of a Navy ship.

Dr. Brady was onboard when Ham’s capsule was opened. The chimpanzee, the first of his species to survive spaceflight, celebrated his arrival with a burp.