Here's a look at the significance of sending animals to space

"On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. However, three months earlier NASA had launched "Number 65" on a mission that helped pave the way for Shephard's momentous flight. Number 65 was a male chimpanzee born in 1957 in the French Cameroons in West Africa. After being captured by trappers, he was sent to a rare bird farm in Florida."

"The original flight plan called for an altitude of 115 miles and speeds ranging up to 4,400 mph. However, due to technical problems, the spacecraft carrying Ham reached an altitude of 157 miles and a speed of 5,857 mph and landed 422 miles downrange rather than the anticipated 290 miles. Ham experienced a total of 6.6 minutes of weightlessness during a 16.5-minute flight."

Ham was a male chimpanzee born in 1957 in the French Cameroons, captured and sent to Florida, then sold to the U.S. Air Force in 1959 and trained at Holloman Air Force Base as one of 40 chimps selected for the space program. Preflight training conditioned Ham to push a lever within five seconds of a flashing blue light; correct responses earned banana pellets while failures produced a light electric shock to his feet. The MR-2 suborbital mission exceeded planned altitude and speed due to technical problems, produced 6.6 minutes of weightlessness during a 16.5-minute flight, and landed farther downrange than expected. The flight demonstrated the feasibility of manned ballistic missions and made Ham a public figure featured in media and museum displays.

Read at The Mercury News