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Author
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Topic: MR-2's Ham and his fellow astro-chimps
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dtemple
Member Posts: 752
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 02-25-2008 09:45 PM
   
Here's a photo of MR-2 chimp-o-naut, Ham, I have not seen until now.
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ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2124
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 02-26-2008 02:43 AM
Oh, that would have been a perfect illustration for the "Animals in Space" book that Chris Dubbs and I had published last year. |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 145
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 02-26-2008 08:27 AM
That's a really fantastic shot, but it's not Ham. This is a PR pic of "Jinx the Iceskating Chimp," then appearing at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. Still a fantastic shot. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2124
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 02-26-2008 08:46 AM
Here's one of Ham I expect not too many folks have seen. Bill's message was aimed squarely at Alan Shepard. |
dtemple
Member Posts: 752
From: Longview, Texas, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 02-26-2008 11:41 AM
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
...that would have been a perfect illustration
I knew if you saw this, Colin, that you would say that! However, the photo not showing Ham but rather another chimp (not even an astro-chimp candidate) was unexpected!! quote:
Here's one of Ham...
That's a great picture! |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 02-26-2008 03:53 PM
Whenever I think of Ham and Al, I always think of an exchange Guenter Wendt had with Al Shepherd during a procedure that Al wasn't too keen on doing."You know Al, if you don't like this, we can always go back and get somebody who works for banana peels" And Al threw an ash tray at him at that point. |
E2M Lem Man
Member Posts: 846
From: Los Angeles CA. USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 02-29-2008 10:42 PM
Knowing Bill, Al must have been handed it personally, and Bill bought the drinks! and I am not monkeying around! |
SCE to AUX
Member Posts: 245
From: Anytown USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 04-24-2008 11:58 AM
Space heroes need your help! Save The Chimps |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 145
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 04-24-2008 02:31 PM
What a worthy cause, deserving of our support. Thanks for giving us a heads up on this. Are you involved with this group? |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2124
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 04-24-2008 06:49 PM
Just as an aside (and I too support the work of that foundation), in the book that Chris and I put together called "Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle," we mentioned the wonderful and caring work of Ed Dittmer with the two chimps, Ham and Enos. To his astonishment, he has recently been approached by the Disney people, who intend making an animated feature film on him, Ham and Enos. No other details are available, but I know that Ed's chest must have swelled with pride - he's a great guy, and thoroughly deserves this latter-day recognition. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6135
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 05-18-2008 06:04 PM
A few days ago I visited Alamogordo and the New Mexico Museum of Space History and visited the grave stone of NASA's first space monkey HAM (acronym for Holloman Aero Med). I didn't realize HAM was buried at that site (born in 1955 Cameroon, died in 1983 North Carolina Zoological Park). |
Chris Dubbs
Member Posts: 145
From: Edinboro, PA USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 05-18-2008 06:04 PM
A part of Ham is buried at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Here's the gruesome odyssey of the chimp. When he died at the National Zoological Park in Washington DC in January 1983, his body was turned over to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The carcass was delivered to the AFIP on 19 January, where it was photographed and necropsied. The skeleton was eventually taken to the Dermestid beetle colony at the Smithsonian Institution to be cleaned of flesh. The skeleton was to remain the property of the AFIP. Here is the telling line from the report of the AFIP Director, William R. Cowan, Colonel USAF. "It is recommended that the skin be given to The Aerospace Museum, Washington, D.C. for a mounted specimen and that the remainder of the carcass be forwarded to the International Space Hall of Fame at Alamagordo, New Mexico for burial." So, something of the chimp is buried beneath the bronze plaque at what is now the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Exactly what, I'm not sure any one could say. Incidentally, John Stapp officiated at the ceremony dedicating the small memorial garden and bronze plaque. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2124
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 05-18-2008 06:16 PM
All that Chris said in the last post is correct, and it's probably true that the same sort of thing happened with Enos much earlier on, although extensive research and asking people involved in the program failed to reveal what happened to Enos's remains for our book. The only sliver of information I had was in a message from someone who said that after Enos died, her mother had received the chimp's eyes at her laboratory, where they would undergo examination for possible defects resulting from cosmic ray exposure. As there is no known grave for Enos, I can only conclude that while some of his tissue matter was probably farmed out to some laboratories for similar examination, the rest of the body was simply disposed of. An ignominious ending for both of these space pioneers, although Ham at least has a permanent memorial. |
Jay Chladek
Member Posts: 2272
From: Bellevue, NE, USA
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted 05-19-2008 09:14 AM
quote:
Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
...who intend making an animated feature film on him, Ham and Enos.
If Disney does a movie about the space chimps, then I doubt they will be fully truthful about the personality of Enos as he tended to have his good days and bad days (kind of like Al Shepard). Just read Wendt's book "The Unbroken Chain" and you will see what I mean when it comes to an experience that Guenter and Enos had when a congressman came to visit. Ham, on the other hand, tended to be a well mannered chimp. |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3269
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-19-2008 04:23 PM
The forthcoming computer-animated movie "Space Chimps," is not about the original chimps, but features "Ham III," the supposed grandson of the original Ham, on an adventure that takes them through a black hole to another planet......it is not a Disney movie, however, but a 20th Century Fox/Vanguard movie. Perhaps there is more than one movie being made - or some confusion over who is making it? In any event, the trailer for the movie is available online if you wanted to see what Ham's grandson is supposed to look like and be able to do! It looks like some attempt has been made to parody well-known "The Right Stuff" and "Apollo 13 movie moments. |
Philip
Member Posts: 6135
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 06-07-2008 02:55 PM
BIS Spaceflight magazine July 2008: Monkey's ill-fated voyage by Joel Powell
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 48186
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-30-2009 09:38 PM
WPTV.com: Astronauts visit 'chimp-anauts' in St. Lucie Co. In 1962, when Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit the earth, he took the space program to new heights.In 1981, when Robert Crippen served as captain of the first space shuttle, he too, was a pioneer. But today both men paid their respects to the explorers who made their space travel possible: the chimp-anauts. Twenty-one chimpanzees captured in Africa in the 1950's, then trained at American air force bases by NASA as test cases for the space program. Today some of those original chimp-anauts and their descendants make up the 283 chimpanzees who now reside at the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Western St. Lucie County. It's a kind of retirement paradise for chimps - 150 acres, complete with private islands, ropes, swings and hammocks. The chimps lounge about eating popsicles and climbing whatever they please. Carpenter and Crippen visited the facility for a tour. Both men say they're impressed. "I have great respect for space travelers more senior than I, and I have great respect for the species that did it first," said Carpenter, who divides his time between Colorado and Florida. "It is most appropriate that they be given a retirement home here in Florida where we all live," said Crippen, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens. |
spacekiddo
Member Posts: 33
From: The Netherlands
Registered: Mar 2011
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posted 04-23-2011 04:29 AM
Looking back at an old Mercury movie, I wondered what happened to the Mercury chimpanzees Sam, Miss Sam, Ham and Enos? Are they still alive and if so where are they now?Editor's note: Threads merged. |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2124
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 04-23-2011 04:29 AM
Sam remained at Brooks Air Force Base for several years before being transferred to the San Antonio Zoo where it is believed he died before 1978. Miss Sam also went to Brooks AFB, but her fate is not known. Ham died of old age (26) at the North Carolina Zoological Park on 17 January 1983. Some of his remains are buried under a marker outside the Space Museum in New Mexico. Sadly, Enos' fate is not known. |
space shuttle mike
New Member Posts: 2
From: Fruitport, MI
Registered: Mar 2022
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posted 04-15-2022 08:39 PM
The flight of Mercury Redstone-2 was the famous Mercury sub-orbital "chimp" flight. Holloman AFB sent six chimpanzees (four female and two male) to Cape Canaveral on January 2, 1961. Obviously, the prime chimp for that flight was Ham (#65). Does anyone know what the names/numbers of the other five chimpanzees were? Editor's note: Threads merged. |
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