ANIMALS IN SPACE: THE ORIGINAL ASTRONAUTS

Before any human dared, a remarkable crew of monkeys, mice, dogs, and one very good
chimpanzee flew first. This is their story — and several of them launched from right here on the
Space Coast.

BEFORE ANYONE DARED

The first animals in space were fruit flies, launched on a captured V-2 in 1947 to study radiation exposure.

In the years that followed, mice and monkeys rode early rockets as scientists worked out whether living
things could survive launch, weightlessness, and reentry at all.

ABLE AND BAKER

On May 28, 1959, two monkeys named Able and Baker launched from Cape Canaveral in the nose cone of a Jupiter missile, flew 300 miles high, and were recovered alive — the first primates America brought home from space.

Miss Baker lived on for decades as a beloved celebrity at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

HAM'S BIG DAY

On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham flew a full Mercury-Redstone mission from the Cape — and didn't just ride, he worked, pulling levers on cue in weightlessness.

His flight proved a pilot could function in space. Ten weeks later, Alan Shepard followed the trail Ham blazed.

THE ORIGINAL RIGHT STUFF

Every human spaceflight stands on the small shoulders of the animals who flew first.

We think that's worth celebrating — preferably on a Hawaiian shirt.

BEFORE THE RIGHT STUFF, THERE WAS THE FURRY STUFF — AND IT FLEW FIRST.