Ham also known as Ham the Chimp and Ham the Astrochimp, was the first hominid launched into outer space. Ham’s name is an acronym for the lab that prepared him for his historic mission–the Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, located at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico

On January 31, 1961, Ham was secured in a Project Mercury capsule labeled MR-2 and launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, into outer space. Ham had his vital signs and tasks monitored using computers back on Earth.

The capsule suffered a partial loss of pressure during the flight, but Ham’s space suit prevented him from suffering any harm. Ham’s lever-pushing performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space. Ham’s capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by a rescue ship later that day. He only suffered a bruised nose.

His flight was only 16 minutes and 39 seconds long.