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Mercury-Redstone 2 – Ham the Chimp travels into outer space31.1.1961
Post-flight
With the malfunctions during the flight, the Mercury-Redstone was still not ready for a human passenger planned for MR-3. It was postponed pending a final booster development flight, Mercury-Redstone BD.
After his spaceflight, Ham was transferred to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. for 17 years and then in 1981 was moved to a zoo in North Carolina to live with a colony of other chimps. He died on January 19, 1983, at the age 26. Ham is buried at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was one of many animals in space.
Ham's backup, Minnie, was the only female chimp trained for the Mercury program. After her role in the Mercury program ended, Minnie became part of an Air Force chimp-breeding program, producing nine offspring and helping raise the offspring of several other members of the chimp colony. She was the last surviving astro-chimp. She died at the age of 41 on March 14, 1998.
Mercury spacecraft No. 5, used in the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission, is currently displayed at the California Science Center, Los Angeles, California.
