January 21, 2022
On this date in 1960, a rhesus monkey, ‘Miss Sam,’ was launched aboard a Mercury spacecraft and returned safely to Earth 30 minutes later. This was not the first-time animals had been used to test conditions in space. This practice dates to 1783, when the Montgolfier brothers – French aviation pioneers, tested their hot air balloons with a live sheep, duck, and rooster as passengers.
The rhesus monkey named Miss Sam launched aboard the LJ-1B “Little Joe 1B” Mercury mission. From Whallops Flight Facillity. Miss Sam image credit: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4311/ch3.htm. LJ-1B image credit: NASA, Soerfm.