HAM the chimpanzee became the first hominid in space #OTD in 1961, launched on a sub-orbital flight aboard Mercury-Redstone 2. His name was an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center and a nod to its commanding officer Lt Col Hamilton Blackshear.
Image: NASA (Photo AA-984)

(The world is on fire. Just need to go in a different direction here for a little bit.)

Folks often post this picture and claim that it's Ham. Unfortunately, they are wrong – this is a PR photo of a chimp named "Jinx" who was famous for performing an ice skating routine. Too bad, it's a great shot.
Credit: Unknown (If you know the source please DM me)

Anyway, Ham the space chimp did great on his mission! His short sub-orbital mission paved the way for Alan Shepard’s flight aboard Freedom 7 about three months later. Here's a photo of someone giving Ham an apple after he was pulled from the Atlantic #OTD in 1961.
Source: NASA

Don’t want to read too much into the responses or lack thereof, but if you don’t RT this thread you hate space chimps.

Not saying that this is the sinister true reason for Ham’s mission, but I am also not not saying that.
https://twitter.com/josecanseco/status/1090630252135497728?s=21 https://twitter.com/JoseCanseco/status/1090630252135497728

From last year, the unexpected (and perhaps unneeded) confluence of #UnscienceAnAnimal and #UnscienceASpaceThing: #UnscienceASpaceAnimal

The 60th anniversary of Ham the .