Buzz
On this day 54 years ago, Enos the Chimp made history as the first chimpanzee to orbit Earth. Following Ham, the first chimp in space, Enos played a crucial role in NASA's Project Mercury. Despite the challenges he faced during his mission, this commemorative newsreel highlights the events of November 29, 1961:
It's important to note that the USSR had a significant lead in the space race by then, having successfully sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit in April 1961 and Gherman Titov on an extended orbital flight in August 1961.
The Untold Story of Enos
Enos was launched aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission, successfully reaching orbit. He operated controls in response to flashing lights and received banana pellets as rewards for correct responses. Trained extensively on Earth, he performed basic logic tests, with incorrect answers resulting in foot shocks.
A critical system failure caused Enos to receive 76 electric shocks even when he answered correctly. Despite the pain, he persisted until the system advanced to the next task.
Another malfunction in the capsule's attitude control system led to a dangerous temperature rise, reaching 100.5 degrees. NASA aborted the mission after two orbits instead of the planned three. Enos spent 3 hours and 20 minutes stranded in the capsule, damaging equipment and removing his urinary catheter while the balloon was still inflated. According to Kristine Sigsbee's animal astronauts page, he was joyful upon recovery:
Enos celebrated his return to Earth with visible excitement. Observers noted he leaped with joy and energetically greeted his rescuers on the recovery ship. His mission served as a critical test run for the subsequent Mercury launch on February 20, 1962, which saw Lt. Colonel John Glenn become the first American to orbit the planet.
Following medical evaluations, Enos was deemed healthy. Tragically, he succumbed to antibiotic-resistant dysentery within a year, and his final resting place remains a mystery. In contrast, Ham, the first chimp in space, lived until 1983, residing at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
