1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: a show that honors the dead by sharing their stories 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: with the living. I'm Gay Bluesier and today we're looking 5 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: at the story of Ham, the world's first astroad chimp. 6 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: His life contributed greatly to the future of manned space flight, 7 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: but it also highlighted the moral neglect sometimes results from 8 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: human science. The day was January thirty one, nineteen sixty one. 9 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: Especially trained chimpanzee named Ham became the first primate to 10 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: travel into space. Ham left the Earth's atmosphere a full 11 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: ten weeks before the first human Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagaron 12 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: and three months before the first American astronaut, Alan Shepherd. 13 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: Ham's flight confirmed that the U. S Space program was 14 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: ready to take that next step of sending a human 15 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: into space and returning them safely to Earth. It's important 16 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: to note, though, that while Alan Shepherd readily volunteered for 17 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: his mission, Ham the chimpanzee did not born in West 18 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: Africa in what was then the French Cameroons. Ham was 19 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: captured by poachers in ninety seven in order to kidnap 20 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: a baby chimpanzee from its community. The trappers would have 21 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: had to kill Ham's mother, along with most, if not all, 22 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: of the other adults in the group, a massacre then 23 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: Ham would have witnessed first hand. After his capture, the 24 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: young chimp was taken to a facility in Florida, the 25 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: Miami Rare Bird Farm. Two years later, he was sold 26 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: to the US Air Force to be trained for spaceflight 27 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: as part of Project Mercury. He was transferred to the 28 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: Holloman Air Force Base in Alama Gordo, New Mexico. At 29 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: the time, the chimp was known as chang or as 30 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: Subject number sixty five, but he would later be renamed 31 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: Ham by his handlers. Although it sounds like an affectionate nickname, 32 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: it's actually just an acronym for Holloman Aero Medical, the 33 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: research laboratory where he and thirty nine other young chimps 34 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: were trained. For the next year and a half, Ham 35 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: and the others took part in what was casually referred 36 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: to as the School for Space Chimps. Once again, the 37 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: cutesie name belied the harsher reality of the program. Ham 38 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: and the other subjects were routinely restrained in chairs in 39 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: order to habituate them to long periods of confinement in 40 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: a cramped space capsule. Some of the US Air Forces 41 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: methods for this included straight jackets, neck rings, and four 42 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: limb restraints. The purpose of their mission, according to a 43 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: NASA press release, was to test the life support system 44 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: of the spacecraft and to confirm the chimps and by extension, 45 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: humans could still perform motor tasks while in space. To 46 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: test this, Ham and the other chimps were trained to 47 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: operate levers when prompted by corresponding flashing lights. If the 48 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: chimps pulled a lever within five seconds of the light flashing, 49 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: they received a banana flavored pellet as a reward. If 50 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: they did not pull the lever in time, they received 51 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: an electric shock on the soles of their feet. The 52 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: chimps were also exposed to simulated G forces and micro 53 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: gravity to prepare them for the rigors of space flight, 54 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: just like human astronauts. After eighteen months of this abusive training, 55 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: Ham and five other promising primates were flown to Cape 56 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: Canaveral in Florida in preparation for the experimental flight. With 57 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: just a few days left before the launch, Ham was 58 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: finally selected as the not so Lucky chimpanzee whose life 59 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,159 Speaker 1: would be put on the line for science. Early on 60 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: the morning of January thirty first, nineteen sixty one, Ham 61 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: was dressed in a diaper, waterproof pants, and a space suit. 62 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: He was then strapped into a container called a couch 63 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: cabin and loaded into the nose cone of the Mercury 64 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: R to rocket. After six hours of waiting on the 65 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: launch pad at Cape Canaveral, the three and a half 66 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: year old chimpanzee was propelled into space at a speed 67 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: of approximately fifty eight hundred miles per hour. His flight, 68 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: which lasted approximately sixteen and a half minutes, took him 69 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: to a height of one hundred and fifty seven miles 70 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,599 Speaker 1: above the Earth, at which point he experienced it's roughly 71 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: six and a half minutes of weightlessness. Throughout the flight, 72 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: NASA technicians on the ground monitored Ham's vitals through a 73 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: series of sensors fitted to his body. They also recorded 74 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: his reaction times to see if he pulled the levers 75 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: any slower in space than he had on Earth. Despite 76 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: the stress and confusion of Ham's situation, he performed the 77 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: tasks well, reacting only slightly slower in zero gravity. During 78 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: Ham's descent, a system malfunction led the capsule to overheat 79 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: and plummet into the Atlantic Ocean, more than a hundred 80 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: miles off course from its intended target. After splashdown, Ham's 81 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: capsule began taking on water, but fortunately the chimp was 82 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: rescued by helicopter alive and relatively well. When he was 83 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: finally released from his couch cabin, Ham had an expression 84 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: on his face that looked like a grin. The press 85 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: eagerly reported it on this supposed smile, referring to him 86 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: as a quote frisky space traveler, one who seemed to 87 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: have enjoyed his trip. However, the expression interpreted as a 88 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: happy smile was actually what's called a fear grimace. In fact, 89 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: when renowned primatologist Dr Jane Goodall first saw the footage 90 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: of Ham recorded during his flight and the photographs taken 91 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: upon the recovery of his capsule, she said she had 92 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: quote never seen such terror on a chimp's face. That 93 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: fear was displayed again shortly after Ham was recovered from 94 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: the water. Photographers wanted more pictures of him inside his couch, 95 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: but the chimp refused to re enter the capsule as 96 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: the cameras rolled. Four adult men tried to force him 97 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: back inside, but were unsuccessful. Ham became an overnight celebrity 98 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 1: and was featured in countless articles and on many TV shows. Newsreels, 99 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: and document enteries were made about him, but the full 100 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: truth about his traumatized expression and agitated behavior wasn't covered 101 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: in the media. If there's a silver lining to Ham's ordeal, 102 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: it said he wasn't subjected to decades of biomedical research 103 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: following his trip to space, although that doesn't mean he 104 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: had a happy retirement either. In nineteen sixty three, Ham 105 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: was transferred to the National Zoo, where, despite the highly 106 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: social nature of his species, he was forced to live 107 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: in isolation for seventeen years. Finally, in Ham was sent 108 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: to the North Carolina Zoo, where he was allowed to 109 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: share a habitat with a small colony of other chimps. 110 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: Despite these improved conditions, Ham died just three years later 111 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty six, roughly half the life 112 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: expectancy of a captive chimpanzee. Following his death, there was 113 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: talk of preserving Ham in the Great Ape House at 114 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: Smithsonian National Zoo, or perhaps putting his body on display 115 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: at the Air and Space Museum. The Washington Post condemned 116 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: the idea, writing quote, talk about death without dignity, talk 117 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: about dreadful precedents. It should be enough to make any 118 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: space veteran more than a little nervous about how he 119 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: is going to be treated in the posthumous by and by. 120 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: In response to this kind of pushback, the US Air 121 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: Force agreed to a more humane approach. They buried Ham's 122 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: soft tissue and hide at the International Space Hall of 123 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: Fame in Alama Gordo, New Mexico. However, his skeleton was 124 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: kept due to its intrinsic scientific value. Today it's kept 125 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: in a drawer behind the scenes at the National Museum 126 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: of Health and Medicine in Washington. D C. Ham's trip 127 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: into space was a momentous occasion. It settled concerns about 128 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: the safety of suborbital flight and paved the way for 129 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 1: the first humans in space. It was also a remarkable 130 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: demonstration of the intelligence and aptitude of the chimpanzee species, 131 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: because don't forget Ham was just three and a half 132 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: years old at the time of his flight. If he 133 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: hadn't been ripped from his mother he would have still 134 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: been nursing at that age. It was basically like shooting 135 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: a human toddler into space, except they wouldn't have done 136 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: as well with the levers. It's tempting to anthropomorphize Ham 137 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: the chimpanzee, to consider the challenge of his task, the 138 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,080 Speaker 1: danger he endured, the fear he experienced, and then to 139 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: lionize him for it as we would a human. But 140 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: I think it's more respectful to not do that, to 141 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: not pretend that he was something he wasn't. Ham was 142 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: a baby, He was an animal that was treated like 143 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: an object, a means to our ends. He was not 144 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: humanity's hero, he was our vic them, and the sooner 145 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 1: we own up to that past exploitation, the less likely 146 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: will be to accept more of the same in the future. 147 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 148 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd 149 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: like to keep up with the show, consider following us 150 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I HC Show. 151 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: And if you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love 152 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can write to me directly 153 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: at this day at I heart media dot com. Thanks 154 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: as always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and 155 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back here 156 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in history class. For more 157 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 158 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.