In the present day within the historical past of astronomy, Albert II supplies invaluable physiological information, a part of a protracted line of animal experiments as precursors for human spaceflight.
NASA skilled 40 “astrochimps” — together with this one, named Ham — to pilot their Mercury-Redstone spacecraft. Not lengthy after Ham’s profitable mission in 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard turned the primary American human to succeed in house. Credit score: NASA
On June 14, 1949, a rhesus monkey named Albert II was launched into house aboard a V-2 rocket from White Sands, New Mexico. Previous to Albert II, animals together with fruit flies, mice, and one other monkey (Albert I) had been launched in rocket and balloon flights as a part of American space biology research, however Albert II’s flight attained an altitude of roughly 83 miles (134 kilometers), making Albert II the primary mammal to succeed in house. Albert II was linked to monitoring devices, and his information, together with coronary heart and respiration, have been efficiently recorded all through the flight. Sadly, the capsule’s parachute failed upon return and Albert II died on impression, however the mission offered helpful physiological information for subgravity research and contributed to the evolution manned spaceflight. By 1961, a chimp named Ham could be the primary hominid in house; Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard would comply with in a matter of months.
