These Photos Of History Will Change How You View The World

The First Monkey From Space

Ham, also known as “Ham the Chimp,” was the first primate who has ever been to outer space. This was part of NASA’s early attempts to put a living being into a rocket and to go into outer space in order to see if tasks could be performed in space. Ham was taught to push a lever within five seconds upon seeing a flashing blue light. He was trained to do so by earning banana pellets if the task was completed successfully and being shocked at the feet if he didn’t succeed. On January 31, 1961, Ham embarked on a suborbital flight in a Project Mercury mission labeled MR-2.