Sixty-four years ago today, on January 31, 1961 (December 15, 1960 in the lunar calendar), Ham the chimpanzee went into space. Chimpanzee Ham On January 31, 1961, the first American spaceflight chimpanzee named Ham, possibly the largest animal ever in outer space, roamed 150 miles above the earth for 18 minutes and returned safely and healthily to the ground, giving it an apple. Its flight is a direct step to putting humans into satellite orbit. Long before Armstrong's "Apollo 11" successfully landed on the moon, the real heroes of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) were actually a group of unknown chimpanzee "astronauts". Like human astronauts, they have received brutal training for space flight and made great contributions to NASA's early space program and biological experiments. Fifty-one years ago, Ham, a 3-year-old chimpanzee, successfully entered space and became the first "American" to leave a footprint in the universe. On October 8th, the British "Daily Mail" published a large number of "work photos" of Ham and his "colleagues". These black-and-white photos have become precious materials in the history of human space exploration. Hamm was sent into space by NASA in January 1961. The picture shows Ham undergoing a physical examination after returning to Earth. Ham undergoes a physical examination when he returns to Earth. Ham, the first chimpanzee sent into space. Fifty years ago, in order to defeat the former Soviet Union in the space race, the United States specially trained 40 chimpanzee astronauts, and Ham was one of them. In addition, it is also the first chimpanzee in human history to be sent into space. "Ham" was invited into the capsule located on the top of the rocket. At that time, sending humans into space was known as the "Holy Grail" of space exploration. Facing the Soviets getting closer and closer to winning this Holy Grail, the Americans decided to send a 3-year-old chimpanzee "Ham" to the stage and send it into space to determine whether humans could survive the space environment. Figuratively speaking, "Ham" is like a canary in a coal mine. (Canaries are particularly sensitive to gas or other poisonous gases. As long as there is a very thin "gas" produced, which is far from fatal to the human body, canaries have lost consciousness and fainted. After miners are aware of this situation, they can immediately withdraw from the mine to avoid casualties.) "Ham" in the picture looks very relaxed and ready for take-off. Prior to this, the former Soviet Union had sent dogs into space. The United States chose chimpanzees because this animal has many similarities with humans. Ham's hometown is Cameroon, Africa, and was once the star of a zoo in Florida. The U.S. Air Force later bought the "Ham" and decided to send it into space. Prior to this, only fruit flies, rhesus monkeys and a dog named "Laika" had entered space. "Laika" is a Russian hound. In November 1957, it was launched into Earth orbit on the "Sputnik 2" satellite, becoming the first animal to travel in space in human history. Before the oxygen was exhausted, "Leica" survived in space for seven days. It gives people the impression that it seems to have finished its mission and returned to Earth. There is nothing to worry about. The name "Ham" is an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center in New Mexico, where "Ham" was trained. Different from "Leica", "Ham" not only has to enter space smoothly, but also return to Earth safely. Ham and other chimpanzees have been preparing for this space journey for two and a half years. They are trained to have the ability to complete simple tasks, i.e. react to light and sound. They have to push the putter within 5 seconds of seeing the blue flash. If they successfully complete, they can get a banana pill as a reward. If they fail, they will get a slight electric shock on the soles of their feet. "Ham", who wears a military dog tag, is undergoing a medical examination. The team of scientists used various instruments to test chimpanzees, measuring their pressure in the face of various gravitational forces, speeds and temperatures. The food they ate during the test was a banana sac prepared for space flight. On January 31, 1961, "Ham" entered space as a member of the MR-2 mission team. Unfortunately, the mission quickly went wrong. The angle of the flight path was higher than the original plan, causing the spacecraft to enter the space area 157 miles (about 252 kilometers) from the earth, which was higher than the original plan of 115 miles (about 185 kilometers), and the oxygen content began to decrease. During the 6-minute space flight, the capsule traveled through space at a speed of about 5,000 miles per hour (about 8,046 kilometers per hour), and "Ham" fully experienced what weightlessness is. After 16 minutes and 39 seconds, the capsule crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Rescuers immediately set out to salvage the capsule. After leaving the cabin, "Ham" gets an apple and half an orange as a reward. This space trip left "Ham" unscathed, and was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, where he lived for 17 years. "Ham" finally died at the North Carolina Zoo at the age of 25. The space race didn't end with the launch of Ham. Although the Americans claimed to have successfully sent a primate into space, the Soviets pointed out that the flight was only suborbital, in other words, it was not a real space journey. On April 12, 1961, former Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history and became the first person in space aboard the "Vostok 1" spacecraft. A month later, on May 5th, the Americans also achieved this breakthrough and sent Alan Shepard into space. Shepard became the first astronaut in American history to enter space. Hamm was sent into space by NASA in January 1961. The picture shows that after it returns to Earth, the crew is preparing to take it out of the space capsule. Dozens of chimpanzees were also trained with Ham. The picture shows them eating snacks in a simulated space capsule. Hamm was sent into space by NASA in January 1961. The picture shows it preparing for that historic space journey.