Video: 'NASA's First Trained Astronaut in Space'

(Tuesday, January 31, 1961, 11:55 a.m. EST) — A 37-pound male chimpanzee nicknamed “Ham” was rocketed into space today from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard Mercury-Redstone 2 in a test of the Project Mercury capsule that is scheduled to carry a human astronaut into orbit.

Ham’s flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long. His capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by a rescue ship later that day. His only physical injury was a bruised nose.