By December of 1959, along came Miss Sam – a Rhesus monkey – who flew not one, but two, flights for NASA. These flights, both of which were successful, were Little Joe I-B on December 4, 1959 and Little Joe II on October 23, 1963. Not much more is known about Miss Sam’s life after her illustrious career as a “monkey-naut.”
By early 1961, NASA was sending chimpanzees into space, rather than the smaller varieties of monkeys that had been previously used. At the end of January, 1961, Ham the chimp had been trained and had successfully flown the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission. Sealed within his aerated little space pod, Ham was able to navigate the ship and return to earth, where a shiny red apple awaited him – which was a sure way to get him to break into a toothy grin, since they appeared to be among his favorite treats.
Like Ham, Enos – the second chimp in space – was successful in the completion of his mission when he flew the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission for NASA at the end of December, 1961. Despite the fact that, during his flight, there were two malfunctions which occurred within the ships controls which gave Enos electrical shocks each time he attempted to manipulate them, he bravely continued in his duties until he, once again, reached terra firma. This little hero – who didn’t much care for physical human contact – eventually died six months later from a rare form of dysentery, known as Shigellosis.